recipe
Americannoun
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a set of instructions for making or preparing something, especially a food dish.
a recipe for a cake.
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a medical prescription.
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a method to attain a desired end.
a recipe for success.
noun
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a list of ingredients and directions for making something, esp a food preparation
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med (formerly) a medical prescription
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a method for achieving some desired objective
a recipe for success
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of recipe
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: take, imperative singular of recipere to receive
Explanation
A recipe is directions for making a dish or dessert, like your mother's award-winning recipe for chocolate chip cookies. The word recipe is most often used when talking about cooking. It includes two things: a list of ingredients that you'll need and the steps to take in order to make it. You can find recipes in cookbooks, on Web sites, in newspapers and magazines — or handed down in your family. Other than cooking, a recipe can also be a formula: the recipe for success is hard work, good timing and a little luck.
Vocabulary lists containing recipe
Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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List 7
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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:
Inspired by traditional Indian cooking and Southeast Asian flavors, this Food52 recipe bathes and simmers sautéed heads of romaine in a delicious mixture of gingery coconut milk, fresh lime juice and fish sauce.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Wind & Sea said in a comment it would share its mai tai recipe on its social media accounts before closing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Party Puffs started out selling ice cream and lemonade until Barham perfected his signature hot dog on a stick using his mother’s cornbread recipe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
From that point on, I figured out the fertilizer recipe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
"It's the paper that was underneath the recipe they wrote."
From "Scream for Ice Cream: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #2" by Carolyn Keene
"Since 2017, we have reformulated over 3,000 recipes and taken out 160 additives… Last year alone, we re-worked the formulations of around 300 products," the company said in a statement.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Restaurants around the world are embracing “grandmacore dining,” with recipes passed down through generations and spaces designed to feel like grandma’s house.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
“These recipes have been passed down through generations,” she said of its menu.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Like a lot of the recipes I come back to most, this one wasn’t invented so much as accumulated.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
As Micah eats his lunch, Sara and I create a work schedule and dream up recipes.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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.
