bake
Americanverb (used with object)
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bakes,
present (3rd person singular)
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baked,
past participle, past
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baking
present participle
-
to cook by dry heat in an oven or on heated metal or stones.
-
to harden by heat.
to bake pottery in a kiln.
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to dry by, or subject to heat.
The sun baked the land.
verb (used without object)
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bakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
baked,
past participle, past
-
baking
present participle
-
to bake bread, a casserole, etc.
-
to become baked.
The cake will bake in about half an hour.
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to be subjected to heat.
The lizard baked on the hot rocks.
verb phrase
verb
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(tr) to cook by dry heat in or as if in an oven
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(intr) to cook bread, pastry, etc, in an oven
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to make or become hardened by heat
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informal (intr) to be extremely hot, as in the heat of the sun
noun
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a party at which the main dish is baked
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a batch of things baked at one time
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a kind of biscuit
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a small flat fried cake
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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overbakeverb
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prebakeverb
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outbakeverb (used with object)
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rebakeverb (used with object)
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underbakeverb (used with object)
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unbakedadjective
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well-bakedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bakesimple
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bakessimple
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have bakedperfect
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has bakedperfect
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am bakingprogressive
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are bakingprogressive
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is bakingprogressive
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have been bakingperfect progressive
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has been bakingperfect progressive
Past
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bakedsimple
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had bakedperfect
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was bakingprogressive
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were bakingprogressive
-
had been bakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bake
First recorded before 1000; Middle English baken, Old English bacan; cognate with Old High German bahhan, Old Norse baka; akin to Dutch bakken, German backen, Greek phṓgein “to roast”; from Proto-Indo-European extended root bhēg-, bhōg- “to warm, roast”
Explanation
To bake something is to cook it in a hot oven. When you bake a batch of blueberry muffins, your whole house smells delicious. Whether you bake some cookies for dessert, a casserole to take to a potluck supper, or bake a clay pot in a kiln, you cook with a relatively slow, dry heat. You can also use the word bake figuratively: "Are you going to move into the shade, or are you just going to bake in the sun all day?" The Old English word was bacan, from a Germanic root.
Vocabulary lists containing bake
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Griffin says he’s had no choice but to stay open during this time, despite the heat risks to himself and employees as the hottest temperatures of the year so far bake Southern California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Arrange your dates on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 375°F for 10 minutes, until the brie has beautifully melted into its pocket.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
The perfect summer pie: If you like to bake, it’s an ideal time to give this dessert a try.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
The UK is set to bake in another day of 35C highs, with temperatures expected to remain at heatwave level until the end of next week.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
“The huckleberry pies that you bake would put muscles on a grapevine.”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
As Europe bakes under a second heatwave in as many months, Guterres delivered a speech in London that painted a stark picture of a planet that has just endured its 11 hottest years on record.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
Analysts at KeyBanc suggested Monday that SpaceX’s stock price already bakes in sufficient optimism for the company’s ambitions.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
He explained that he and his wife had visited her mother June at her home in Kent last month, before heading home with a tub full of her homemade bakes.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
In other words, the stock price bakes in a lot of early success for Arm’s first chip.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
No wonder Ma bakes cinnamon rolls to make it seem like we’re cool.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Equality, diversity and inclusion are reasonable goals for a leading university, Mosey wrote in the Times, but risk becoming contentious "when they are baked into inflexible policies and questionable appointment processes".
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Last summer, as the region baked, the residents of Ellum Pointe - a whg scheme for the over-55s - began telling their landlords they simply could not cool their flats.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Snacks and baked goods posted some of the largest percentage jumps, according to Theme Park IQ, another website examining park trends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Clark delivered a scathing blow against Boeing, suggesting that the first ten 777X jets—which have already been built—should be scrapped and turned into cans for baked beans, in comments to the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Pork chops, fried chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, a trough of Caesar salad, steamed beans, fresh baked rolls, and of course sweet potato pie—all delicious, especially the pie.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
With parts of the globe aflame in wildfires, deadly heat waves parking over cities, record hot oceans and a strengthening super El Niño, it seems like we’re baking through the hottest year on record.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
David Morton had enjoyed most of his week-long trip to Cap Ferret with his wife and two teenage sons in the forests under baking sun.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Heat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
And yet, on a baking afternoon in front of a hostile crowd, a vastly superior Spain couldn’t find a way to punish them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Since she was a daughter of Athena, plans were supposed to be her specialty; but it was hard to strategize with her stomach growling and her throat baking.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
