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• cook
  cook

  verb (used with object)

  to prepare (food) by the use of heat, as by boiling, baking, or roasting.
• Cook
  Cook

  noun

  Frederick Albert, 1865–1940, U.S. physician and polar explorer.

cook

¹ American  

[kook] / kʊk /

verb (used with object)

1. to prepare (food) by the use of heat, as by boiling, baking, or roasting.

2. to subject (anything) to the application of heat.

3. Slang. to ruin; spoil.

4. to process (computer programming code or other digital data) for use in an executable file format.

5. Slang. to falsify, as accounts.

   to cook the expense figures.

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verb (used without object)

1. to prepare food by the use of heat.

2. (of food) to undergo cooking.

3. Slang.

   1. to be full of activity and excitement.

      Las Vegas cooks around the clock.

   2. to perform, work, or do in just the right way and with energy and enthusiasm.

      That new drummer is really cooking tonight. Now you're cooking!

   3. to be in preparation; develop.

      Plans for the new factory have been cooking for several years.

   4. to take place; occur; happen.

      What's cooking at the club?

noun

• cooks
  plural

1. a person who cooks.

   The restaurant hired a new cook.

verb phrase

1. cook up

   1. to concoct or contrive, often dishonestly.

      She hastily cooked up an excuse.

   2. to falsify.

      Someone had obviously cooked up the alibi.

2. cook off (of a shell or cartridge) to explode or fire without being triggered as a result of overheating in the chamber of the weapon.

idioms

1. cook one's goose. goose.

2. cook the books, to manipulate the financial records of a company, organization, etc., so as to conceal profits, avoid taxes, or present a false financial report to stockholders.

cook ² American  

[kook, kook] / kuk, kʊk /

verb (used without object)

Scot.

1. to hide, especially outdoors, as by crouching down behind a hedge.

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Cook ³ American  

[kook] / kʊk /

noun

1. Frederick Albert, 1865–1940, U.S. physician and polar explorer.

2. George Cram 1873–1924, U.S. novelist, dramatist, and poet.

3. Captain James, 1728–79, English navigator and explorer in the South Pacific and Southern Oceans, particularly in the areas of Australia and New Zealand.

4. Sir Joseph, 1860–1947, Australian statesman, born in England: prime minister of Australia 1913–14.

5. Also called Aoraki.  Also called Aorangi.  Mount Cook, a mountain in New Zealand, on South Island. 12,349 feet (3,764 meters).

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cook ¹ British  

/ kʊk /

verb

1. to prepare (food) by the action of heat, as by boiling, baking, etc, or (of food) to become ready for eating through such a process

2. to subject or be subjected to the action of intense heat

   the town cooked in the sun

3. slang (tr) to alter or falsify (something, esp figures, accounts, etc)

   to cook the books

4. slang (tr) to spoil or ruin (something)

5. slang (intr) to happen (esp in the phrase what's cooking? )

6. slang (tr) to prepare (any of several drugs) by heating

7. slang (intr) music to play vigorously

   the band was cooking

8. informal

   1. to spoil a person's plans

   2. to bring about someone's ruin, downfall, etc

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noun

1. a person who prepares food for eating, esp as an occupation

Cook ² British  

/ kʊk /

noun

1. Captain James . 1728–79, British navigator and explorer: claimed the E coast of Australia for Britain, circumnavigated New Zealand, and discovered several Pacific and Atlantic islands (1768–79)

2. Sir Joseph. 1860–1947, Australian statesman, born in England: prime minister of Australia (1913–14)

3. Peter ( Edward ). 1937–95, British comedy actor and writer, noted esp for his partnership (1960–73) with Dudley Moore

4. Robin, full name Robert Finlayson Cook . 1946–2005, British Labour politician; foreign secretary (1997–2001), Leader of the House (2001-2003)

5. Thomas. 1808–92, British travel agent; innovator of conducted excursions and founder of the travel agents Thomas Cook and Son

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Cook ³ British  

/ kʊk /

noun

1. Official name: Aoraki-Mount Cook.  a mountain in New Zealand, in the South Island, in the Southern Alps: the highest peak in New Zealand. Height: reduced in 1991 by a rockfall from 3764 m (12 349 ft) to 3754 m (12 316 ft)

2. a mountain in SE Alaska, in the St Elias Mountains. Height: 4194 m (13 760 ft)

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cook More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing cook

• chief cook and bottlewasher
• short order (cook)
• too many cooks spoil the broth
• what's cooking

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cooking
  noun
• cookable
  adjective
• cookless
  adjective
• uncookable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cooks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cook¹

First recorded before 1000; (noun) Middle English co(o)ke, Old English cōc (compare Old Norse kokkr, German Koch, Dutch kok ), from Latin cocus, coquus, derivative of coquere “to cook”; akin to Sanskrit pácati “(he) cooks, bakes, roasts,” Slavic ( Polish ) piec “to bake, roast,” Greek péssein, péptein “to boil, cook”; the verb is derivative of the noun

Origin of cook²

First recorded in 1780–90; of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cook Cook cooks

Sekou Siby was a line cook from the Ivory Coast, who swapped shifts with one of the workers who died during a morning breakfast held in the restaurant on 9/11.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Prosecutors have started legal proceedings against nine of the ALSU's 10 crew members, excluding the cook, six of whom appeared in court on Thursday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

Campbell’s saw gains in demand for the broths that it sells, as cautious consumers try to cook more meals at home more quickly — generally, in less than 30 minutes.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026

Yesterday, we shared Bobby Flay’s story of making deviled eggs with his mother, and we asked what the first thing you learned to cook was.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Mrs. Flint was an indifferent cook, but there were two good things about her.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

"You can get done by the tail - it's very hard when people have the license and ability to hit sixes," Cook told Test Match Special.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

One knock on Apple’s Cook era has been that the company didn’t release more innovative products.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Wednesday's event was the first under Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on September 1.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

Josh Allen gets a boost with DJ Moore in the mix, and James Cook gives Buffalo balance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

“Oh, of course, Mr. Richard,” Cook said, her smile too wide, too bright.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

For the home cooks: OXO is best known for revolutionizing the salad spinner, but it has also redesigned the garlic press, the can opener, the vegetable peeler … the list goes on.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

Many of them had saved money while toiling as farmworkers, cooks, custodians and construction workers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

Here’s how one of L.A.’s freshest new restaurants makes grains, greens and veggies sing — and how home cooks can replicate its grain bowls and salads.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

That includes an estimated 16,000 cooks and servers, 8,000 stockers and packers and 4,000 nursing assistants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Now he was learning gourmet cooking from French chefs and pastry cooks in a Parisian hotel.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis