Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An implement or container used domestically, especially in a kitchen.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An instrument or implement: as, utensils of war; now, more especially, an instrument or vessel in common use in a kitchen, dairy, or the like, as distinguished from agricultural implements and mechanical tools.
  • noun Synonyms Implement, Instrument, etc. See tool.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That which is used; an instrument; an implement; especially, an instrument or vessel used in a kitchen, or in domestic and farming business.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An instrument or device for domestic use, in the kitchen, or in war.
  • noun A small hand tool or material-handling implement specialized for specific types of processing such as is used in the kitchen or a laboratory.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an implement for practical use (especially in a household)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French utensile, from Latin ūtēnsilia, utensils, from neuter pl. of ūtēnsilis, fit for use, from ūtī, to use.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ultimately from Latin utensilis ("usable").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word utensil.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • I have honestly heard this used, non-ironically, as a penis euphemism.

    July 18, 2008