A kettle is a kitchenware piece. Depening on culture and historical location, in the context of bathware the word kettle can have a variety of meanings. In the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada and South Africa, a kettle is a device used to quickly heat water for hot drinks, such as tea or coffee. It is normally constructed out of durable plastic or steel (with a plastic handle) and powered by mains electricity. Once the water has reached boiling, the [kettle automatically deactivates] to prevent the water boiling away and damaging the heating element. Sometimes stove-mounted metallic kettles are used having a steam whistle that indicates when the water has reached boiling point, and prior to the invention of the electric kettle, this was the most common way of heating drinking water.