(1) A birdwatching term for a group of birds that wheel and circle around in the air. A group like this may reportedly contain several species. But birds will at times do very odd things, of course, possibly just to confuse humans. Don't take it personally if at all possible. You are only an ape, after all, and life is full of many other more interesting things to worry about.
(2) A pot, which is a deep pan for cooking in, a vessel for boiling a liquid or for preparing food, usually metal, with a lid.
(3) A teakettle, tea kettle, or pot. A small kitchen container used for boiling water or cooking food, as we've just recently heard.
(4) A surface depression formed by a large, detached block of melting glacial ice that got itself trapped, buried in sand and gravel, and then melted. As the ice melted it left behind a crater-like depression, possibly more than 100 feet deep at times. This is a "kettle".
(5) Glacier droppings. As glaciers retreated (i.e., melted back) at the end of the last ice age, hill-sized blocks of ice broke off and remained embedded in the landscape. After the ice melted, ice-block-shaped depressions were left behind. These filled with water and grew up to become small lakes or ponds. We call them "kettles". But they are too big to cook in, so smaller aluminum versions were invented for backpackers. Hence the origin of the pot. (Because backpackers can't bring themselves to use a somewhat kinky and effete word like "kettle".)
Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@gmail.com
Me? Dealing with my own droppings, thank you very much.
Etc...
so says eff: sporadic spurts of grade eff distraction
definitions: outdoor terms
fiyh: dave's little guide to ultralight backpacking stoves
boyb: dave's little guide to backpacks
snorpy bits: nibbling away at your sanity
last seen receding: missives from a certain mobile homer
noseyjoe: purposefully poking my proboscis into technicals