bake
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to cook by dry heat in an oven or on heated metal or stones.
-
to harden by heat.
to bake pottery in a kiln.
-
to dry by, or subject to heat.
The sun baked the land.
verb (used without object)
-
to bake bread, a casserole, etc.
-
to become baked.
The cake will bake in about half an hour.
-
to be subjected to heat.
The lizard baked on the hot rocks.
verb phrase
verb
-
(tr) to cook by dry heat in or as if in an oven
-
(intr) to cook bread, pastry, etc, in an oven
-
to make or become hardened by heat
-
informal (intr) to be extremely hot, as in the heat of the sun
noun
-
a party at which the main dish is baked
-
a batch of things baked at one time
-
a kind of biscuit
-
a small flat fried cake
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bakesimple
-
bakessimple
-
have bakedperfect
-
has bakedperfect
-
am bakingprogressive
-
are bakingprogressive
-
is bakingprogressive
-
have been bakingperfect progressive
-
has been bakingperfect progressive
Past
-
bakedsimple
-
had bakedperfect
-
was bakingprogressive
-
were bakingprogressive
-
had been bakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bake
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”
Explanation
To bake something is to cook it in a hot oven. When you bake a batch of blueberry muffins, your whole house smells delicious. Whether you bake some cookies for dessert, a casserole to take to a potluck supper, or bake a clay pot in a kiln, you cook with a relatively slow, dry heat. You can also use the word bake figuratively: "Are you going to move into the shade, or are you just going to bake in the sun all day?" The Old English word was bacan, from a Germanic root.
Vocabulary lists containing bake
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.
Since her first TV appearance on the Great British Bake Off in 2018, Williams has built a career as a presenter.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026
Speaking at Hay Festival with comedian and former host of The Great British Bake Off, Mel Giedroyc, Dame Mary recalled picking strawberries with her father and playing in the garden as a child.
From BBC • May 28, 2026
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until deeply golden at the edges and softly set in the center.
From Salon • May 25, 2026
Former Great British Bake Off judge Dame Mary Berry received the top lifetime achievement accolade, the Bafta Fellowship, at the age of 91.
From BBC • May 10, 2026
But Mom said I could audition for Kids Bake Challenge! if Ariana gave me a good review.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
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.
