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DictionarykilnHeating furnace
noun

kiln

KILN/kɪln/

An oven or furnace for firing or drying materials.

Rows of ceramic bowls sit inside the pottery kiln.

A pottery kiln with thick insulated door open reveals rows of fired ceramic bowls glowing softly warm inside, workshop setting, no controls lettering.
Etymology
kilnLatinkitchen, cooking stove

The cooking-stove sense of Latin culina supplies the link: a kiln likewise uses an enclosed space and heat, here for firing pottery or drying materials.

In context

Curiosity Incorporated8:33
cracks in the glaze or cracks in the pottery from firing is very common with this style of pottery because it's an uneven temperature it's not like going into a kiln
Potter House Auction! Getting Ready for the pottery auction live feed update!

More examples

  • The bricks hardened in a large kiln.
  • Workers dried the lumber in a kiln before milling it.
  • The kiln cooled overnight before she opened it.

Forms

kiln · kilns

Similar words

oven
An oven cooks or heats generally; a kiln specializes in firing or drying materials.
furnace
A furnace produces intense heat; a kiln applies controlled heat to dry or fire materials.