Skewer: meaning, definitions and examples

A skewer is generally a thin metal or wooden stick used to hold pieces of food together during cooking, often on a grill or barbecue. It's also used in a more casual or everyday setting.

• She carefully threaded the chicken and vegetables onto the skewer
• The street vendor sold delicious meat skewers

A spit refers to a long rod used to hold and cook large pieces of meat, such as whole animals, over a fire or rotisserie. It is usually used in outdoor or traditional cooking settings and has an old-fashioned connotation.

• They roasted a whole pig on a spit for the festival
• The medieval banquet featured various meats cooked on spits

Brochette, a French term, is often used in more formal or gastronomic contexts to describe food cooked on a skewer, especially in French cuisine.

• The restaurant served an elegant brochette of lamb with rosemary
• For the dinner party, he prepared exquisite brochettes with assorted meats

Use in culinary settings when referring to threading food onto a thin rod for grilling. Also used metaphorically to mean criticizing harshly.

• She skewered the chicken before putting it on the grill.
• The critic skewered the new movie in his review.

Appropriate for describing the action of puncturing or going through something, whether it is about a physical act (like ear piercing) or a metaphorical sense (such as piercing cold or a piercing glance).

• She got her ears pierced at the mall.
• The sharp wind pierced through his coat.

Typically used in dramatic or violent contexts to describe a sharp object penetrating through something, often implying a serious injury or fatal wound. Not used in everyday conversations.

• The warrior was impaled by a spear during the battle.
• He accidentally impaled his hand on a sharp stake.