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
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( 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.
To explore those questions, scientists examined whether diabetes risk differed between French fries and potatoes prepared by boiling, baking, or mashing.
From Science Daily • Jun. 3, 2026
Alone for the first time in 30 years, she began using credit cards on items to help her cope, such as cooking equipment for a baking hobby and new jeans after she lost weight.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
Pickle bread sounds niche until you realize how naturally pickle brine fits into baking.
From Salon • May 28, 2026
With gas in short supply, baking and cooking at home becomes an issue as well, Abu Ahmed Wafi, a 42-year-old displaced with his family in south Gaza, told AFP.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
Arlo adjusts the tarts on the baking sheet and then closes the oven door.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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.
