What does broiler mean?
A broiler is, most commonly, a young chicken bred and raised specifically for meat rather than for egg-laying. The term is central to modern poultry farming, where billions of broilers are produced annually, and it appears routinely in grocery stores, recipes, and discussions of food production. In North American kitchens, 'broiler' has a second, unrelated meaning: it refers to the pan used for broiling or to the part of an oven that cooks food with intense direct heat from above — roughly equivalent to what British speakers call the grill. This dual meaning can surprise learners of English: the same word names both the appliance and a bird that might be cooked in it. Connotations are neutral and practical, though 'broiler' carries industrial-agricultural associations when discussing farming at scale. For everyday purposes, remember the regional split: ask a Brit where the grill is, an American where the broiler is, and you will be pointing at the same thing.
A young chicken bred and raised for meat production.
"Modern broilers reach market weight in about six weeks."
This is the dominant sense in agricultural and food-industry contexts.
A pan used for broiling food, or the compartment of an oven that supplies intense direct heat from above.
"She slipped the tray of nachos under the broiler to brown the cheese."
Chiefly North American; British English uses 'grill' for the corresponding appliance.
Standard plural; used freely in both senses, especially when referring to multiple birds or batches in farming contexts.
"The farm raises several thousand broilers per cycle."
In American kitchens the broiler does what the British grill does — and confusingly, a 'broiler' is also the very bird most likely to end up under it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of broiler
'Broiler' is formed from the verb 'broil' — to cook by direct, intense heat — combined with the agent suffix '-er'. The cooking verb entered English in the medieval period, probably through Old French, though its deeper origins remain debated among etymologists. The agent-noun formation gave rise to two distinct senses: first the person or device that broils, and later the meat chicken suited to broiling, a sense that became widespread with the growth of commercial poultry farming in the twentieth century.
How broiler is actually used
'Broiler' meaning the oven compartment is chiefly North American; British speakers use 'grill' for the equivalent appliance. The poultry sense is standard in both agriculture and everyday speech, especially in the US, where 'broiler' is the industry term for meat chickens.
Easily confused with broiler
A 'boiler' is a vessel that heats water or generates steam, while a 'broiler' is either a meat-type chicken or a kitchen appliance/pan that cooks food by intense direct heat from above.