English
salamander
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈsæləˌmændə/
  • (RP, obsolete) IPA: /ˈsæləˌmɑːndə/
  • (GA) IPA: /ˈsæləˌmændɚ/
Noun

salamander (plural salamanders)

  1. A long, slender, chiefly terrestrial amphibian of the order Caudata, superficially resembling a lizard.
    • 1672, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 1852, Simon Wilkin (editor), The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, Volume 1, page 292 ↗,
      […] and most plainly Pierius, whose words in his hieroglyphicks are these: "Whereas it is commonly said that a salamander extinguisheth fire, we have found by experience that it is so far from quenching hot coals, that it dyeth immediately therein."
  2. (mythology) A creature much like a lizard that is resistant to and lives in fire (in which it is often depicted in heraldry), hence the elemental being of fire.
    • 1920, Peter B. Kyne, The Understanding Heart, Chapter XI
      “Not a chance, Ranger,” Bob Mason was speaking. “This little cuss is a salamander. He's been travelling through fire all day and there isn't a blister on him. …”
    • 1849, John Brand, Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar and Provincial Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions, Volume 3, page 372
      "There is a vulgar error," says the author of the Brief Natural History, p. 91, "that a salamander lives in the fire. Yet both Galen and Dioscorides refute this opinion; and Mathiolus, in his Commentaries upon Dioscorides, a very famous physician, affirms of them, that by casting of many a salamander into the fire for tryal he found it false. The same experiment is likewise avouched by Joubertus."
  3. (cooking) A metal utensil with a flat head which is heated and put over a dish to brown the top.
    • 1977, Richard Daunton-Fear, Penelope Vigar, Australian Colonial Cookery (discussing 19th century cookery), Rigby, 1977, ISBN 0-7270-0187-6, page 41
      The salamander, a fairly long metal utensil with a flat rounded head, was left in the fire until red hot and then used to brown the top of a dish without further cooking.
  4. (cooking) A small broiler (North America) or grill (Britain), used in professional cookery primarily for browning.
    The chef first put the steak under the salamander to sear the outside.
  5. The pouched gopher, Geomys tuza, of the southern United States.
  6. (UK, obsolete) A large poker.
  7. (metallurgy) Solidified material in a furnace hearth.
Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

salamander (salamanders, present participle salamandering; past and past participle salamandered)

  1. To use a salamander (cooking utensil) in a cooking process.
    • 19th century (quoted 1977), recipe in Richard Daunton-Fear, Penelope Vigar, Australian Colonial Cookery, Rigby, ISBN 978-0-7270-0187-0, page 41:
      When cold, sprinkle the custard thickly with sugar and salamander it.


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