What does grilling mean?
Grilling most often denotes the act of cooking food over direct heat, typically on a barbecue, outdoor grill, or ridged grill pan. The resulting food is browned or charred, and the word is used in both British and American English without strong regional restriction. The term can also describe persistent, intense questioning: a journalist might “grill” a minister, and the resulting encounter is “the grilling.” This figurative sense often suggests discomfort, pressure, or demands for detail rather than a neutral request for information. Less commonly, “grilling” functions attributively before words such as heat or sun to mean extremely hot. As the present participle and gerund of “grill,” the word is especially useful when an action is ongoing: the vegetables are grilling, the witness is under grilling, or someone says “stop grilling me.” In culinary contexts it is usually neutral, while the interrogative sense is commonly confrontational, though often informal.
To cook food over direct heat, usually on a grill or in a grill pan; also, to question someone persistently and intensely.
"They were grilling corn while the mayor answered questions."
The word is normally used as the present participle or gerund of grill.
The process or activity of cooking food over direct heat, especially on a grill; by extension, an intense or persistent interrogation.
"The grilling of the witness continued for several more hours."
It is most often uncountable, although separate instances of questioning can occasionally be counted.
Extremely hot or scorching.
"No one wanted to cross the desert in the grilling midday heat."
This attributive use is less common than the culinary and figurative senses.
The noun is normally uncountable when referring to the general activity; the plural is used mainly for separate instances of intense questioning and is comparatively uncommon.
"The committee conducted three separate grillings of the department chair."
Grilling traces its name back to a little Roman gridiron, giving a barbecue its surprisingly ancient linguistic ancestry.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does grilling come from?
Grilling comes from English grill and Old French griller, meaning “to fry or roast,” both ultimately connected with Latin graticulare, “to roast on a gridiron.” That verb was derived from craticula, a diminutive of crate meaning a wickerwork basket or grid. The same Latin source underlies words such as grille and graticule; the culinary and figurative senses of grill became established in English during the late 16th century.
Related word forms
How grilling is actually used
In culinary contexts, grilling is usually neutral, although it can suggest browning, charring, or a smoky flavor. In its figurative sense, it often means sustained, uncomfortable questioning and may sound confrontational or informal. The attributive adjective use meaning extremely hot is less common.
Easily confused with grilling
Grilling is the process of cooking or intensely questioning, whereas a grille is a screen or framework of bars.