What does "stove" mean?
A heater, a closed apparatus to burn fuel for the warming of a room.
Stove
/stəʊv/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A heater, a closed apparatus to burn fuel for the warming of a room.
- Grammar: stove is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: range, a wide range, acid kiln, blast furnace.
- Useful contrasts: barbeque, grill, unheated.
- Usage evidence: Anticipating a cold winter, we bought a bigger stove.
How to use "stove"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "stove" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "stove" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "stove" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "stove" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "stove" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "range" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "stove", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A heater, a closed apparatus to burn fuel for the warming of a room.
"1815 Robertson Buchanan, Appendix to A Treatise on the Economy of Fuel, and Management of Heat, Especially as it Relates to Heating and Drying by Means of Steam. p. 309. [I]n the countries of modern Europe, the use of stoves prevail throughout the north; while in France and Great Britain, open fires are used. In the warm countries of Italy and Spain, there are very few chimneys, and the only method usually practised of tempering the cold... is to burn charcoal in portable brasiers."
- 2 any heating apparatus wordnet
- 3 A device for heating food, (UK) a cooker.
- 4 a kitchen appliance used for cooking food wordnet
- 5 A stovetop, with hotplates.
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 A hothouse (heated greenhouse). UK
"There existed only one specimen of this sacred tree in all Mexico, at least to the knowledge of the Mexicans; […] In spite, however, of the firmest convictions of the indivisibility of this tree — the Manitas, as it is commonly called — it has been propagated by cuttings, some of which are at this moment thriving in some of the larger stoves of our modern collectors."
- 7 A house or room artificially warmed or heated. dated
"April 1, 1634, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, letter to the Lord Deputy When most of the waiters were commanded away to their supper, the Parlour or Stove being near emptied, in came a Company of Musketeers."
Verb
- 1 To heat or dry, as in a stove. transitive
"to stove feathers"
- 2 simple past and past participle of stave form-of, participle, past
"[A]ye, a stove boat will make me an immortal by brevet."
- 3 To keep warm, in a house or room, by artificial heat. transitive
"to stove orange trees"
- 4 To jam; to sprain. transitive
"to stove a finger"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Anticipating a cold winter, we bought a bigger stove."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "stove"?
Common synonyms include: range, a wide range, acid kiln, blast furnace, boiler, bottle-gas stove.
How do you use "stove" in a sentence?
Anticipating a cold winter, we bought a bigger stove.
How do you pronounce "stove"?
Pronounced /stəʊv/.
Etymology
From Middle Dutch stove and/or Middle Low German stove (compare Dutch stoof (“foot stove”), German Low German Stuve, Stuuv), both from Proto-West Germanic *stubu (“heated room, bathroom, stove”), further origin uncertain. The Germanic words are very old, and are the source of the Slavic and Romance terms. It is often speculated that the Germanic terms were borrowed from Vulgar Latin *extūfa, *extūfāre (“to heat with steam”), from Latin ex- + *tūfus (“hot vapor”), from Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “fever”). Cognates Cognate with Old English stofa (“bathroom, bathhouse”), stufbæþ (“hot-air bath”), Old High German stuba (“heated room, bathroom”) (whence German Stube (“living room, room, parlour”), Hungarian szoba (“room”)), Old Norse stofa (whence Danish stue (“living room, room”), Faroese stova (“living room, house”), Icelandic stofa (“living room”), Norwegian Bokmål stue (“cottage, cabin, living room”), Norwegian Nynorsk stove (“cottage, cabin, living room”), Swedish stuga (“cottage, cabin, living room”)). Doublet of stufa.