cooker
Noun: 1. A kitchen appliance or utensil used for cooking food: This is the primary meaning, referring to a device designed to prepare food by applying heat. 2. (British English) A large, standalone cooking appliance, typically a stove or range: In British usage, this often specifically means a freestanding unit with an oven and hob (burners). 3. (Informal, dated) A person who falsifies or "cooks" accounts or books: This is a figurative and now less common use, implying fraudulent alteration.
- Noun (Appliance):
- She bought a new cooker for her kitchen. (This could mean a stove or a specific appliance like a rice cooker, depending on context.)
- The pressure cooker saves a lot of time when preparing stews.
- (British English) I turned on the gas cooker to boil some water for tea.
- "to be a different kettle of fish" vs. "a pressure cooker situation": Note that while "cooker" is part of the compound "pressure cooker," the idiom "a different kettle of fish" (meaning a completely different matter) uses "kettle," not "cooker." A "pressure cooker situation" describes an environment of intense stress and tension.
- Cook (verb): To prepare food with heat.
- Cook (noun): A person who prepares food professionally.
- Pressure cooker (noun): A sealed pot that cooks food quickly under steam pressure; also used metaphorically for a stressful situation.
- Slow cooker (noun): An electrical pot used for cooking food at a low temperature over many hours.
- Rice cooker (noun): An automated appliance for cooking rice.
- Stove (primarily American English for the appliance)
- Range
- Oven (specifically the enclosed baking compartment, which is often part of a cooker)
- Hob (British English for the cooktop surface)
- Gas cooker / Electric cooker: Specifies the type of fuel the appliance uses.
- They are installing a new electric cooker.
The core meaning is an object for cooking. The British English sense (a combined oven and hob) is a specific type of this object. The informal meaning related to falsification ("a cooker of accounts") is derived from the verb "to cook" in the sense of tampering with records and is now considered dated or jargon.