Meaning & use
hibachi
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A small portable Japanese container for burning charcoal, used for heating or for grilling food.
Grammar: Refers to the physical heater or grill.
Patterns
- cook on a hibachi
- a hibachi grill
Grandmother kept a ceramic hibachi in the room to take the chill off.
We grilled skewers of chicken over a small hibachi on the balcony.
The antique hibachi was carefully filled with glowing charcoal.
nouncountable or uncountableAmerican
In American usage, a style of restaurant cooking where chefs grill food on a flat metal surface at the table, or the grill used for it.
Grammar: Often used as a modifier: a hibachi restaurant, hibachi chicken.
Patterns
- eat hibachi
- a hibachi restaurant
We celebrated her birthday at a hibachi restaurant where the chef flipped shrimp in the air.
I ordered the hibachi steak with fried rice.
Hibachi is popular for family dinners because the cooking is entertaining.
Word forms
| plural | hibachis |
|---|
Common combinations
- hibachi grill
- He bought a hibachi grill for the camping trip.
- hibachi restaurant
- The hibachi restaurant was packed on Saturday night.
- hibachi chef
- The hibachi chef tossed a spatula in the air.
- hibachi dinner
- A hibachi dinner includes soup, salad and vegetables.
- charcoal hibachi
- A charcoal hibachi keeps the patio warm on cool evenings.
Synonyms and how they differ
- teppanyaki
- Teppanyaki is the Japanese flat-top style of cooking that American restaurants often call hibachi, so it is more precise for that kind of grill.
- brazier
- A brazier is any open metal container for burning charcoal, so it is more general than the specifically Japanese hibachi.
- grill
- Grill is a general word for any cooking surface over heat, while hibachi names a particular compact Japanese type.
Word family
- shichirin noun
- another Japanese charcoal cooker, usually of clay
- teppanyaki noun
- Japanese cooking on an iron griddle
Commonly confused: hibachi or habanero?
hibachi vs habanero
A habanero is a hot chili pepper, which sounds slightly similar but has nothing to do with a Japanese grill.
Practice
Which sentence uses hibachi in its traditional Japanese sense?
Choose one answer.
A traditional hibachi is a small charcoal-burning container for heating or grilling. The other sentences assign meanings it does not have.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hibachi”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.