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

The celebrations required that one student, selected randomly, bake a cake in honor of the nation’s authoritarian ruler — a task requiring time and resources prohibitive to much of the population.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The youngest of four children, she was teased by her siblings for remembering family events for what they ate—like the baked salmon at a wedding or mom’s pizza.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Bee Wilson’s own painful memories were triggered by the clang of a heart-shaped baking tin falling to the floor.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As a substitute, he features Butternut Squash Pie, baking it to bring out its sweetness and silky texture.

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Because they liked fireworks, she served baked Alaska topped with sparklers for dessert and surprised them with a fireworks show that annoyed the neighbors but delighted her guests.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• heat 
• melt 
• simmer 
• stew 
• warm