baking
Americannoun
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the activity or practice of cooking food using dry heat, especially in an oven.
Baking can give cuts of poultry a crispy, browned exterior.
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food cooked using dry heat, especially bread, pastry, cakes, etc..
Nothing puts me into the Christmas spirit like the smells of holiday baking.
adjective
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extremely hot.
It was unseasonably cold last week, but this week it's absolutely baking.
-
used in preparing food cooked with dry heat, especially bread, pastry, cakes, etc..
I can't make cookies without a baking tray.
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suited for use in pies, pastry, etc..
Proper baking apples are needed for a good apple crumble.
noun
-
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the process of cooking bread, cakes, etc
-
( as modifier )
a baking dish
-
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the bread, cakes, etc, cooked at one time
adjective
Etymology
Origin of baking
First recorded in 1300–50; 1650–60 baking for def. 3; Middle English; bake ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun senses; bake ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses
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.
Corral, originally from the Bay Area, spends his free time baking, gardening and watching competitive reality TV.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026
Despite these cancellations, thousands of people gathered in the baking heat to watch competitors from all over the world battle it out at the Gloucestershire cheese-rolling race.
From BBC • May 25, 2026
She likes two things that were helpful in starting a business: running operations and the science of baking.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
We’re still baking with I-don’t-know berries, because the market’s earnings yield is by no means a slam-dunk predictor of future returns.
From Barron's • May 14, 2026
“And may I remind you, Admiral, they are doing you a service by helping you find Bertha. Surely you would not repay them by baking them in a PIE?”
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
