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

Two types of processed hard fats commonly found in foods like baked goods, margarines, and spreads appear to have little impact on heart health when eaten in realistic amounts.

Read more on Science Daily

Perhaps Wall Street—which was looking for an outlook that suggested quarterly sales of $1.4 billion—didn’t have the acquisition baked into estimates, creating the disappointment.

Read more on Barron's

This golden retriever optimism has rolled into his first leading role in “Love Hurts,” in which Quan plays a peppy realtor who bakes heart-shaped cookies for his colleagues.

Read more on Salon

If you can’t stomach the gore and anxiety in a typical Halloween show or movie, you will enjoy a lighter ride with an upbeat baking show.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A chef who went from being a kid baking cupcakes for doormen in pubs to running his own Michelin-starred restaurant is taking his love of cuisine to the internet.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• heat 
• melt 
• simmer 
• stew 
• warm