A potholder is a thick pad or square of cloth you grab so you can pick up a hot pan without burning your hands. It lives by the stove. Some are flat little cushions; some look almost like short mittens. Families use the word in the kitchen; it is ordinary, not technical. Though actually, people stretch it: many will call a long oven glove a potholder too, even if a careful shop label says oven mitt. The job is the same — a shield between skin and heat. It is not the trivet you set a hot pot down on, and it is not a person who holds a pot.