extractor

IPA/ɪkˈstræktə(r)/
IPA/ɪkˈstræktər/

extractor — noun

  • extractorsingular
  • extractorsplural

1. a device fitted in a kitchen, bathroom, or workshop that pulls hot air, steam, s

1.nounB2
Definition

a device fitted in a kitchen, bathroom, or workshop that pulls hot air, steam, smoke, or bad smells out of the room and sends them outside.

Example

Aylin switched on the kitchen extractor before she started frying the fish.

switch on the [room] extractor — typical operating verb

The bathroom extractor in Hari's flat is so loud that it wakes the neighbours.

in [possessor's room/place] — locating the device

Common collocations
  • kitchen extractor
  • bathroom extractor
  • extractor fan
  • extractor hood
  • switch on/off the extractor
  • powerful extractor
Synonyms
  • extractor fan

    the most common full form in British English, especially in kitchens and bathrooms

  • exhaust fan

    more common in American English; same function

  • vent hood

    specifically the canopy fitted above a cooker

Grammar Patterns

a/the [adjective] extractor

extractor + over/above/in

Usage Note

Often appears as a compound: 'extractor fan' (the fan unit) or 'extractor hood' (the canopy over a cooker). Subject of the verb is usually the device or its owner switching it on; rarely used in the passive.

Common Mistakes

I opened the extractor to cool the room.
I switched on the extractor to clear the steam.
an extractor pulls air out; it doesn't cool the room like a fan or air-conditioner.
The kitchen has a strong extract.
The kitchen has a strong extractor.
'extract' is the verb or a different noun (a short passage of text); the appliance is 'extractor'.

2. a machine or hand tool designed to pull one specific thing out of another — for

2.nounC1
Definition

a machine or hand tool designed to pull one specific thing out of another — for example, juice from fruit, honey from a comb, or a broken screw from wood.

Example

Isabela bought a small juice extractor so the children could make orange juice each morning.

juice extractor — typical compound

The beekeeper poured the honey from the extractor into clean glass jars.

pour/take + from + the extractor

Common collocations
  • juice extractor
  • honey extractor
  • screw extractor
  • stump extractor
  • industrial extractor
Synonyms
  • juicer

    the everyday word when the thing removed is juice from fruit

  • puller

    informal alternative for hand tools that pull out screws, bolts, or pins

  • press

    used when the removal works by squeezing rather than pulling

Grammar Patterns

a/an [noun] extractor

extractor + for + [noun]

Usage Note

Almost always preceded by a noun that names what is being removed: 'juice extractor', 'honey extractor', 'screw extractor', 'stump extractor'. Distinguish from sense 1 by context — sense 2 removes a physical object or substance, sense 1 removes air or smells.

Common Mistakes

I used an extractor to take the juice.
I used a juice extractor to make fresh juice.
without the noun in front, readers will picture the ventilation device from sense 1.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Extractor' is the everyday short form used in British English for the device that pulls steam, smoke, or smells out of a room; it is countable and usually appears with the room name in front (kitchen extractor, bathroom extractor). 'Extractor fan' is the same idea spelled out in full and is preferred when you want to stress that the device is a fan unit. 'Exhaust fan' carries the same meaning but sounds more American and is the term you will see in US appliance manuals. 'Vent hood' is narrower — it refers only to the canopy fitted above a cooker, which contains the extractor fan plus a filter; a bathroom would not have a vent hood. For example, you might say 'we installed a new extractor in the bathroom' but 'a stainless-steel vent hood now hangs over our cooker' — the latter would sound odd applied to a bathroom.

extractor ↗extractor fanexhaust fanvent hood

Common collocations

Nouns

  • kitchen extractor
  • bathroom extractor
  • juice extractor
  • honey extractor
  • screw extractor
  • extractor fan
  • extractor hood

Adverbs

Phrases

  • switch on/off the extractor
  • install an extractor
  • fit an extractor

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Formed in modern English from the verb 'extract' (from Latin 'extrahere' — 'ex-' meaning 'out' plus 'trahere' meaning 'to pull or draw') plus the agent-noun ending '-or'. So an 'extractor' is literally a thing that pulls something out. The word first attached to mechanical tools in the nineteenth century and later spread to household appliances in the twentieth.