cooking

American  

[kook-ing] / ˈkʊk ɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of a person or thing that cooks.

2. the art or practice of preparing food; cookery.

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adjective

1. used in preparing foods.

   All of my cooking utensils are packed, so I had to order pizza.

2. suited for use in cooked food.

   The Golden Delicious is our favorite cooking apple, especially for applesauce.

Other Word Forms

• self-cooking
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of cooking

First recorded in 1635–45; cook ¹ + -ing ¹ for the noun senses; cook ¹ + -ing ² for the adjective senses

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cooking

I loved cooking Thanksgiving in Mary’s kitchen partly because, for a few days, it felt like our own.

From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026

"I love cooking with my own kids, so seeing what these young stars create in the kitchen is going to be a lot of fun," Meghan said in a statement.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

More space, privacy, home cooking and no cookie cutter rooms or scant closet space.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

If we are not cooking, we’re going out to eat somewhere.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

Mama now took care of everything—grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing our clothes, paying bills and tuition.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

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Related Words

• cookery
• cuisine
• culinary art
• culinary science

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