Word: salamander Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English salamandre, from Anglo-Norman salamandre, from Latin salamandra, from Ancient Greek σαλαμάνδρα (salamándra), of uncertain origin (per Beekes, likely Pre-Greek); possibly of Iranian origin, see Persian سمندر (samandar) for more information. Pronunciation: /ˈsæləˌmændə/, /ˈsæləˌmɑːndə/, /ˈsæləˌmændɚ/ 1. A long, slender, chiefly terrestrial amphibian of the order Caudata, superficially resembling a lizard. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: […]and most plainly Pierius, whose words in his hieroglyphicks are these: "Whereas it is commonly said that a salamander extinguisheth fire, we have found by experience that it is so far from quenching hot coals, that it dyeth immediately therein." Example: Devils Lake is where I began my career as a limnologist in 1964, studying the lake’s neotenic salamanders and chironomids, or midge flies.[…]The Devils Lake Basin is an endorheic, or closed, basin covering about 9,800 square kilometers in northeastern North Dakota. 2. A creature much like a lizard that is resistant to and lives in fire (in which it is often depicted in heraldry), hence the elemental being of fire. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: “Not a chance, Ranger,” Bob Mason was speaking. “This little cuss is a salamander. He's been travelling through fire all day and there isn't a blister on him. …” Example: "There is a vulgar error," says the author of the Brief Natural History, p. 91, "that a salamander lives in the fire. Yet both Galen and Dioscorides refute this opinion; and Mathiolus, in his Commentaries upon Dioscorides, a very famous physician, affirms of them, that by casting of many a salamander into the fire for tryal he found it false. The same experiment is likewise avouched by Joubertus." 3. A metal utensil with a flat head which is heated and put over a dish to brown the top. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The salamander, a fairly long metal utensil with a flat rounded head, was left in the fire until red hot and then used to brown the top of a dish without further cooking. 4. A small broiler (North America) or grill (Britain) that heats the food from above, used in professional cookery primarily for browning. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The chef first put the steak under the salamander to sear the outside. Example: Overfired grills, or salamanders, can, in addition, be used for making toast and salamandering. They have the heat source above the food[…]. This may comprise sets of burners firing below refractory or metal frets, or surface combustion plaques. 5. A pouched gopher (Geomys pinetis etc.) Labels: archaic, countable, uncountable 6. A large poker. Labels: UK, countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: Multitudes had little Tin Kettles in their Houses, with Small-coal kindled, to light their Pipes withal; though in some places they use Candles, in others Salamanders 7. Solidified material in a furnace hearth. Labels: uncountable Example: Salamander tapping is done at the salamander base, which is the bottom-most level of the liquid pool in a blast furnace hearth. A high degree of precision is required to tap the salamander base effectively 8. A portable stove used to heat or dry buildings under construction. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The necessary fires alone — the salamanders and tinner's pots — had caused dozens of small blazes. 9. A fire-eater (performer who pretends to swallow fire). Labels: UK, countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable