Refers to a traditional open hearth or a fireplace in a room, often associated with irori or a domestic fire.
冬は炉のそばで暖をとる。
In winter, I warm myself by the hearth.
Used for industrial or craft heating devices, such as a smelting furnace or a pottery kiln.
陶芸家は炉で作品を焼く。
The potter fires their work in a kiln.
young girl; childlike young woman
Internet slang derived from 炉裏 (irori) → いろり → ロリ (loli). Used in online communities to refer to a young or young-looking female character or person.
See also: ロリ
On a winter night, we lit the hearth to warm up.
Online, 炉 is sometimes used to mean 'loli'.
この炉で鉄を溶かして道具を作る。
They melt iron in this furnace to make tools.
As the night wore on, the fire in the hearth went out.
After the accident, work to shut down the reactor continued.
窯 is used specifically for a pottery or ceramics kiln, while 炉 covers furnaces and kilns of many industrial kinds more broadly.
炉利 is the fuller slang spelling for a young/childlike girl, while 炉 is the shortened, more casual net-slang form of the same term.
囲炉裏 names the traditional sunken hearth found in old Japanese houses, whereas 炉 is the general word for any hearth or fireplace.
竈 is an enclosed traditional cooking stove with a chimney, while 炉 is a more open hearth or fireplace used for warmth as well as cooking.
sunken hearth; fireplace dug into the floor
cooking stove; burner; cooktop
fireplace; hearth; stove
nuclear reactor core
smelting furnace; blast furnace
gas stove; gas range; gas cooker
sunken hearth; traditional open fireplace
incense burner; censer
fireside; hearth; by the fire
The kanji 炉 has been used historically for hearths and furnaces. The slang sense is a rebus-like usage from the reading of 炉裏 (irori) → ロリ (loli).
blast furnace
light-water reactor
fireside; hearthside
open-hearth furnace
decommissioning (of a nuclear reactor, furnace, etc.); decommissioned nuclear reactor (or furnace, etc.)
pocket heater; hand warmer; heater pack
furnace; boiler
furnace cooling
furnace wall
hearth; fireplace floor
mantelpiece; mantel
hearthfire; open fire in a fireplace
tea leaf drying/heating table; drier; toaster