Synonyms

wok

American

[wok] / wɒk /

noun

a large bowl-shaped pan used in cooking Chinese food.

wok British

/ wɒk /

noun

a large metal Chinese cooking pot having a curved base like a bowl and traditionally with a wooden handle

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of wok

1955–60; < dialectal Chinese (Guangdong) wohk pan, equivalent to Chinese huo

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.

He has a taste for street food, and appears on social media wearing a T-shirt and shorts while stir-frying with a wok, or performing 1980s Thai pop on the saxophone or piano.

From Barron's • Feb. 8, 2026

We taste-tested two robot wok restaurants in L.A. to determine whose cooking reigns supreme.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2025

It's reminiscent of a cooking wok or the upswept eaves of a Chinese temple.

From BBC • Sep. 29, 2025

At 75, she’s been at it for more than half-a-century and still frequently works the sole wok at the Merry Go Round.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2025

I snatched up my wok as I ran into the seating area and scrambled over to the door that led to the apartment.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023