Not Just About Forks!

April 22, 2012 7:02 AM

Seeking English-language words that mean both a kitchen implement (knife, spoon, colander, pot…) and also a geomorphic or landscape feature (lake, river, mountain, bluff…) Sinks and cauldrons all qualify, but here my early ay-em ingenuity runs out!
posted by tabubilgirl to writing & language (25 answers total)

Basin. Fork.
posted by londongeezer at 7:06 AM on April 22, 2012

Plate.
posted by londongeezer at 7:09 AM on April 22, 2012

Panhandle
posted by briank at 7:12 AM on April 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

Kettle
posted by dismitree at 7:13 AM on April 22, 2012

Range
posted by skenfrith at 7:13 AM on April 22, 2012

Spit
posted by briank at 7:15 AM on April 22, 2012

Table
posted by dismitree at 7:17 AM on April 22, 2012

Bar.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:20 AM on April 22, 2012

Bowl
posted by PlantGoddess at 7:27 AM on April 22, 2012

Pan
posted by bardophile at 7:28 AM on April 22, 2012

Sheet
posted by bardophile at 7:30 AM on April 22, 2012

Wow! These are fantastic! Thanks muchly! I need to start turning my brain on earlier....!!
posted by tabubilgirl at 7:33 AM on April 22, 2012

Mesa
posted by Forktine at 7:43 AM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Island
posted by moonmilk at 7:50 AM on April 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

Shear. Bar. Cap.
posted by argonauta at 7:53 AM on April 22, 2012

Shelf
posted by jeudi at 8:43 AM on April 22, 2012

Kettle
posted by Floydd at 9:02 AM on April 22, 2012

Breadbasket
posted by Rhaomi at 9:16 AM on April 22, 2012

Plug
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:25 AM on April 22, 2012

Bays
posted by pickypicky at 10:27 AM on April 22, 2012

Ever been to Yellowstone? The mud/paint pots there are pretty cool.

Also, I'd argue that the geographic sense of island preceded the culinary or domestic use of it. The Oxford English Dictionary (registration required) has "A piece of land completely surrounded by water" dating back to 888 CE and "A piece of furniture, in a private house or in a museum, library, etc., surrounded by unoccupied floor space" dating only to 1932.
posted by huxham at 2:09 PM on April 22, 2012

Peninsula refers to a type of local landmass and to a type or part of various pieces of furniture (bar, desk, countertop).
posted by schade at 2:13 PM on April 22, 2012

Related to the cauldron/pot idea, a caldera is "a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption," and is a loanword from Spanish, which comes from the Latin caldaria, or "cooking pot."

And re: my first post, I thought the question was just kitchen terms > geographic terms. Didn't realize the asker was curious about geographic terms > kitchen terms as well! Please excuse my pedantic note.
posted by huxham at 2:19 PM on April 22, 2012

Creatures, clocks, and cliffs all have Faces; though this may not really be related to your actual question. Now that I think about it, the various pieces that make up a cabinet all have cliff or rock related names; lip, overhang, shelf, et cetera...
posted by schade at 2:33 PM on April 22, 2012

A knob is a low, rounded top (=not-pointy) hill/mountain that you find clustered in a ring in Kentucky, around the Appalachians.
posted by Liesl at 7:22 AM on April 23, 2012