Appliance
/əˈplaɪəns/
nounB1
Definition
An appliance is a tool or machine used in homes to do specific jobs, usually to make life easier. Common examples include refrigerators, washing machines, and microwaves. Appliances often use electricity or gas to work.
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⚡ See It in Action
Household machine for daily tasks
- •The dishwasher is an appliance that cleans dishes automatically.
- •She bought a new kitchen appliance to bake bread.
- •Many appliances need to be plugged into an electrical outlet.
Device used in other settings (less common)
- •Firefighters use special appliances to control fires.
- •The dentist’s office has many small appliances for patient care.
🧲 Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "appliance" like "tool," but a bigger machine that usually plugs into electricity or uses gas to help at home.
- ✓Picture a kitchen full of machines: a fridge keeping food cold, a toaster making bread warm, a vacuum cleaner cleaning the floor.
- ✓It's the feeling of convenience when you don’t have to wash clothes by hand because you have a washing machine.
- ✓Sounds like "a-PLY-ance" → imagine something that "applies" power to help you with work around the house.
- ✓Remember the story of a family using many helpful machines to make daily chores easier.
- ✓NOT like "furniture" (which is for sitting or holding things), "appliance" is for doing work or tasks.
- ✓NOT like "gadget" (small device), an appliance is usually larger and more powerful.
- ✓NOT like "tool" (handheld and simple), appliances are often bigger machines that use electricity or gas.
🔄 Try Other Words
- •Device: a tool or machine for a specific purpose (Use when the object might be smaller or more general than an appliance)
- •Machine: a device that uses power to do work (Use when focusing on the mechanical or powered aspect)
- •Gadget: a small, often new or clever device (Use for small, handy tools, not large household machines)
🔍 Unboxing
- •Prefix/root/suffix: "appli-" from "apply" meaning to put to use + "-ance" a suffix forming nouns indicating action or result
- •Etymology: From Latin "applicare," meaning to attach or join, later meaning to put to use or purpose
- •Historical development: First used in English in the 1600s for the act of applying; later in 1800s to mean a tool or device used for a purpose
- •Modern usage: Commonly means electrical or mechanical machines used at home for specific tasks like cooking or cleaning
💭 Reflect & Connect
•How do appliances change the way people live and work in their homes?
•Can you imagine daily life without any appliances? What tasks would be hardest?
Fill in the blanks with the correct word:
1.Many kitchen appliances ___ electricity to work and make cooking easier.
2.When an appliance breaks, it can ___ daily chores much harder.
3.Unlike furniture, an appliance is made to ___ a specific job in the home.
4.People often buy new appliances to ___ their homes with better technology.
5.Small devices are gadgets; large machines for home use are called appliances, so a smartphone is not an ___.
6.The washing machine is a common appliance that helps ___ clothes clean.
7.Some appliances come with manuals that explain how to ___ them safely.