A lot of confusion surrounds the terms grilling and barbecuing, compounded by the fact that we use barbecue to refer to many different aspects of live-fire cooking: from a piece of cooking equipment (the grill) to one or more cooking methods (using that grill) to specific dishes, such as Texas- or North Carolinian style barbecue. We also use the term more broadly to refer to the act of cooking outdoors, to a meal cooked and served outdoors, and to a social gathering featuring barbecued food.