English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iːmə(r)

Noun

1. A cooking appliance that cooks by steaming.
2. A vessel in which articles are subjected to the action of steam, as in washing, and in various processes of manufacture.
3. A vessel propelled by steam; a steamship or steamboat.
4. A steam-powered road locomotive; a traction engine.
5. A wetsuit which has long sleeves and long legs.
6. A dish of steamed clams.
7. In the context of "birds": The steamer duck; a genus (Tachyeres) of ducks in the bird family Anatidae. All of the four species occur in South America, and all except one are flightless.

   Note: see Wikipedia article on w Tachyeres

8. A food made by cooking diced meat very slowly in a tightly sealed pot, with a minimum of flavourings, allowing it to steam in its own juices. Popular circa 1850 but apparently no longer so by the 1900s.

   1864: of all the dishes ever brought to table, nothing equals that of the steamer — Edward Abbott, The English and Australian Cookery Book: Cookery for the Many, as Well as for the 'Upper Ten Thousand, London, 1864, in turn giving as his source "Australia, by Melville" (quoted in Acquired Tastes: Celebrating Australia's Culinary History, Colin Bannerman (and others), published by the National Library of Australia, 1998, ISBN 0-642-10693-2, page 14)

9. A steam fire engine, a fire engine consisting of a steam boiler and engine, and pump which is driven by the engine, combined and mounted on wheels (Webster 1913).

Derived terms

• Cleveland steamer

Translations