bake

[beyk]

verb (used with object)

baked, baking 

1. to cook by dry heat in an oven or on heated metal or stones.

2. to harden by heat.

   to bake pottery in a kiln.

3. to dry by, or subject to heat.

   The sun baked the land.

verb (used without object)

baked, baking 

1. to bake bread, a casserole, etc.

2. to become baked.

   The cake will bake in about half an hour.

3. to be subjected to heat.

   The lizard baked on the hot rocks.

noun

1. a social occasion at which the chief food is baked.

2. Scot.,  cracker.

verb phrase

1. bake in / into

   1. Computers.,  to incorporate (a feature) as part of a system or piece of software or hardware while it is still in development.

      The location-tracking service is baked in the new app.

      Security features come baked into the operating system.

   2. to include as an inseparable or permanent part.

      Baked into the price of the product is the cost of advertising.

bake

/ beɪk /

verb

1. (tr) to cook by dry heat in or as if in an oven

2. (intr) to cook bread, pastry, etc, in an oven

3. to make or become hardened by heat

4. informal,  (intr) to be extremely hot, as in the heat of the sun

noun

1. a party at which the main dish is baked

2. a batch of things baked at one time

3. a kind of biscuit

4. a small flat fried cake

Other Word Forms

• outbake verb (used with object)
• overbake verb
• prebake verb
• rebake verb (used with object)
• unbaked adjective
• underbake verb (used with object)
• well-baked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bake¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of bake¹

Old English bacan ; related to Old Norse baka , Old High German bahhan to bake, Greek phōgein to parch, roast

Example Sentences

User u/mbz321, who doesn’t appear to be a fan of the item, said: “The ‘new’ chicken bake was barely worth it at $2.99.”

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As readers of The Bite know, we’ve been in the midst of a cozy little series on weeknight, seasonal baking.

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Frankly, I’m also not a big baker, so if you’re accustomed to only ever baking with salted, don’t, as they say, @ me.

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After all, how many loaves of banana bread could one bake?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“This will make the Bank of Canada’s decision a bit more interesting next week than previously expected—markets had been all but baking in a rate cut.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• heat 
• melt 
• simmer 
• stew 
• warm