boiler

/ˈbɔɪlə(r)/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈbɔɪlər/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈbȯi-lər/ (ame, mw)

boiler — noun

  • boilersingular
  • boilersplural

1. a machine in a house or other building that warms water so the taps and heating

1.名詞B2
釋義

a machine in a house or other building that warms water so the taps and heating system can use it

例句

The boiler shut down overnight, so the hotel guests had cold showers.

boiler failure affects hot water

A technician cleaned the old boiler before the weather turned colder.

service the boiler before winter

同義詞
  • water heater

    often narrower, especially when it only supplies hot tap water rather than a full heating system

  • heating unit

    broader everyday term for a machine that provides heat to a building

文法句型

reset the boiler

replace the boiler

the boiler breaks down

用法筆記

In everyday home use, boiler usually means the machine that supplies hot water or central heating for a building. Distinguish from sense 2, which names the steam-making part inside an older engine.

常見錯誤

❌The boiler in my bedroom kept me warm all night.
✅The radiator in my bedroom kept me warm all night.
💡the boiler heats the system's water; the radiator is the part that warms the room.

2. the sealed chamber in a steam engine that turns water into the steam the machine

2.名詞B2
釋義

the sealed chamber in a steam engine that turns water into the steam the machine runs on

例句

Engineers checked the boiler before the steam train left the station.

boiler of a steam train

A cracked boiler stopped the old engine halfway up the hill.

同義詞
  • steam generator

    more technical and broader; can also refer to industrial equipment outside railway engines

文法句型

inspect the boiler

water in the boiler

the boiler of a steam engine

用法筆記

This sense appears mostly in historical rail, shipping, or engineering contexts. Here boiler means the metal chamber that makes steam, not the whole engine and not the home-heating machine in sense 1.