bake

American  

[beyk] / beɪk /

verb (used with object)

• bakes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• baked,
  past participle,  past
• baking
  present participle

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)

• bakes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• baked,
  past participle,  past
• baking
  present participle

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

• bakes
  plural

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 British  

/ 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

Derived Forms

• overbake
  verb
• prebake
  verb
• outbake
  verb (used with object)
• rebake
  verb (used with object)
• underbake
  verb (used with object)
• unbaked
  adjective
• well-baked
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bakes
  plural

Participles

• baking
  present
• baked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bake
  simple
• bakes
  simple
• have baked
  perfect
• has baked
  perfect
• am baking
  progressive
• are baking
  progressive
• is baking
  progressive
• have been baking
  perfect progressive
• has been baking
  perfect progressive

Past

• baked
  simple
• had baked
  perfect
• was baking
  progressive
• were baking
  progressive
• had been baking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bake
  simple
• will have baked
  perfect
• will be baking
  progressive
• will have been baking
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bake bakes baked baking

I was raised that you never return a plate empty so I’d bake something or add some homegrown veggies to the plate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Ingredients to bake fairy cakes with buttercream icing usually cost between £10 and £15 - depending on what you already have in the cupboard.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Spread them on a sheet pan and bake at 400°F for 8 to 12 minutes, tossing once, until crisp and deeply golden.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

The perfect summer pie: If you like to bake, it’s an ideal time to give this dessert a try.

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026

One of my neighbors, Mrs. Carmella Jobson, taught the course, and I loved going into her class to cook and bake things.

From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals

As Europe bakes under a second heatwave in as many months, Guterres delivered a speech in London that painted a stark picture of a planet that has just endured its 11 hottest years on record.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

Analysts at KeyBanc suggested Monday that SpaceX’s stock price already bakes in sufficient optimism for the company’s ambitions.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026

WSJ | Buy Side: This unique multicooker air fries, bakes, slow cooks and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

The 13-year-old from Coleraine in County Londonderry impressed viewers in this year's series of Junior Bake Off with her creative bakes and spoke openly about how she manages living with JIA.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026

He bakes bread in a stone oven like those they used to have in Smyrna.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

She has tried a full English breakfast - but is not a fan of baked beans - and her TikTok algorithm is already throwing up typical conversational words like "innit".

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Sobel, now chief economist at the independent Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, walked me through why the yuan’s cheapness is baked into the structure of the Chinese economy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Last summer, as the region baked, the residents of Ellum Pointe - a whg scheme for the over-55s - began telling their landlords they simply could not cool their flats.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Snacks and baked goods posted some of the largest percentage jumps, according to Theme Park IQ, another website examining park trends.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

It’s like a beautiful cake baked for a wedding that never happened.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

With parts of the globe aflame in wildfires, deadly heat waves parking over cities, record hot oceans and a strengthening super El Niño, it seems like we’re baking through the hottest year on record.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Vibrant and intense, but light on the palate, with complex flavors and aromas of purple flowers, dried herbs, baking spices, raspberry and cranberry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

David Morton had enjoyed most of his week-long trip to Cap Ferret with his wife and two teenage sons in the forests under baking sun.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Once your dates are prepped, lay them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

They would run a bookstore, give painting lessons, and assume Madame Ionesco’s bakehouse duties when she was off prognosticating, for they had surely learned a thing or two about baking while in Frankenforde.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• heat
• melt
• simmer
• stew
• warm