kiln

IPA/kɪln/
KK[kˈɪln]IPA/kɪln/

kiln — noun

  • kilnsingular
  • kilnsplural

1. a specially built heated chamber used to harden or dry materials such as clay, b

1.nounC1
Definition

a specially built heated chamber used to harden or dry materials such as clay, bricks, or wood.

Example

After shaping the bowls, Kenji loaded them carefully into the kiln.

pattern: load something into the kiln

Smoke rose behind the workshop while Iker fired tiles in the kiln.

collocation: fire tiles in the kiln

Common collocations
  • load the kiln
  • brick kiln
  • pottery kiln
  • kiln-dried wood
  • kiln door
Synonyms
  • oven

    usually used for cooking food, so it is broader and more domestic than 'kiln'

  • furnace

    a broader industrial heating word that often suggests stronger heat or metalwork rather than pottery or bricks

  • dryer

    focuses on removing moisture and does not usually suggest firing clay or brick

Grammar Patterns

in the kiln

load something into the kiln

fire something in the kiln

Usage Note

Usually countable. Common with verbs such as 'load', 'fire', 'dry', and 'cool', and with materials being processed rather than food. Distinguish it from 'oven', which is mainly for cooking, and from 'furnace', which is a broader industrial heating word.

Common Mistakes

We baked the clay bowls in the oven at school.
We fired the clay bowls in the kiln at school.
pottery is usually hardened in a kiln, not a kitchen oven.
The wet wood stayed in the furnace for two days.
The wet wood stayed in the kiln for two days.
for controlled drying of timber, 'kiln' is the usual word.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Kiln' names a heated chamber used in making things such as pottery, bricks, or dried wood. 'Oven' usually points to cooking equipment for food, so it sounds wrong when you mean industrial firing. 'Furnace' is broader and often suggests stronger heat for metal, glass, or large heating systems; it does not automatically imply the shaping and hardening process linked with clay. 'Dryer' focuses on removing moisture and can name many machines without the idea of firing. So a potter loads bowls into a kiln, a family bakes bread in an oven, a factory melts metal in a furnace, and a laundry room uses a dryer.

kiln ↗oven ↗furnace ↗dryer ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • brick kiln
  • pottery kiln
  • kiln door
  • kiln-dried wood

Phrases

  • load the kiln
  • fire pottery in the kiln
  • take something out of the kiln

Prepositions

  • in the kiln