ˈfire-pot
† a. An earthen pot containing combustibles or explosives used as a missile. Obs. exc. Hist. b. The receptacle for the fire in a furnace or heating-stove. c. A crucible (Knight Mech. Dict. 1874).
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xii. 57 You must be carefull to cleare the decks with..fire-pots. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. 86 Fire-Pots..may be made of Potters-Clay, with Ears baked, and to it hang lighted Matches. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Fire-pots. |
| b. 1871 Nichols Fireside Science 229 Around the ash⁓chamber and fire-pot [of furnace]. 1874 Knight Mech. Dict., Base-burning Stove, one having a magazine to hold a supply of fuel, which falls out at the bottom as that in the fire-pot becomes consumed. |
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Senses a–c in Dict. become 1–3. Add: 4. A small, metal cooking-stove traditionally used in Mongolia for poaching in broth; also, a meal cooked in this way. Freq. as Mongolian fire-pot. Cf. hot-pot n. 2.
| 1966 Esquire Oct. 74/3 This establishment is known as a ‘firepot house’, and its only dish is shuan yang chou, or ‘instant-boiled mutton’. Ibid., The firepot, on the table, is a shallow bowl with a charcoal-burning chimney through its axis. 1968 E. Hahn Cooking of China ii. 34 The Mongolian fire pot.., a covered pot with a chimney rising through the center from a built-in brazier below. 1978 Chicago June 221/1 Special banquets and Mongolian fire pot (winter only) [are] available on day's notice. 1986 Fortune 20 Jan. 83 They prepare and serve a steaming Mongolian firepot dinner of assorted meats and vegetables. |