oven
Americannoun
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ovens
plural
noun
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an enclosed heated compartment or receptacle for baking or roasting food
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a similar device, usually lined with a refractory material, used for drying substances, firing ceramics, heat-treating, etc
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of oven
before 900; Middle English; Old English ofen; cognate with German Ofen, Old Norse ofn
Explanation
An oven is a device for baking food using heat. You probably scramble eggs on your stove but bake cupcakes in your oven. Most ovens are in kitchens, whether in private homes or restaurants. Every once in a while, you'll see an outdoor bread or pizza oven too — these are built of brick, stone, or clay, and can safely get hot enough to bake at very high temperatures. Another kind of oven is one that's used for baking ceramics, which is also called a kiln or sometimes a furnace. The very oldest ovens were built thousands of years ago in Central and Eastern Europe.
Vocabulary lists containing oven
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She recommends leaving your oven door open after using it to help warm your kitchen, though this isn't advised if you have small children who could injure themselves.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Laurel Supply, a new market with a wood-fired pizza oven and juice bar, opened in May on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
The journey began in 1997 with Sojourner, a small rover roughly the size of a microwave oven.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026
Out back, there’s a multilevel pool, lounge area, fire pit, outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven, and grassy lawn.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
Mama went to the stove and took out her big iron skillet with a folded-up kitchen towel and her oven glove.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
Magic Chef stove, one of the first ovens to be equipped with a clock, recast kitchen work as something that could be measured and controlled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Reconsider your “smart” home: Cameras are becoming more and more common in home appliances, including in smart ovens, refrigerators, doorbells, and toothbrushes—even as people decry surveillance measures in public.
From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2026
Their roller kilns - which transport materials through every production phase inside industrial ovens - are powered by electric motors.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
In Paris in particular this summer, the steep temperatures turned apartments directly under iconic Haussmann-era buildings with zinc-covered roofs into virtual ovens.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
He instructed the tenants to air out their kitchens before lighting ovens.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
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