kettle
noun
[ ˈkɛt(ə)l ]
• a container or device in which water is boiled, having a lid, spout, and handle.
• a depression in the ground thought to have been formed by the melting of an ice block trapped in glacial deposits, especially one that is circular and deep.
• "our lake is probably a kettle"
• a small area in which demonstrators or protesters are confined by police seeking to maintain order during a demonstration.
• "activists in the kettle were protesting at being held and resisting arrest"
kettle
verb
• (of the police) confine (a group of demonstrators or protesters) to a small area, as a method of crowd control during a demonstration.
• "the plan was to get as close to the protest as possible without getting kettled"
Origin:
Old English cetel, cietel, of Germanic origin, based on Latin catillus, diminutive of catinus ‘deep container for cooking or serving food’. In Middle English the word's form was influenced by Old Norse ketill .
