cake
Americannoun
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cakes
plural
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a sweet, baked, breadlike food, made with or without shortening, and usually containing flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, eggs, and liquid flavoring.
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a flat, thin mass of bread, especially unleavened bread.
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a shaped or molded mass of other food.
a fish cake.
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a shaped or compressed mass.
a cake of soap; a cake of ice.
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Animal Husbandry. a compacted block of soybeans, cottonseeds, or linseeds from which the oil has been pressed, usually used as a feed or feed supplement for cattle.
verb (used with object)
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cakes,
present (3rd person singular)
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caked,
past participle, past
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caking
present participle
verb (used without object)
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cakes,
present (3rd person singular)
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caked,
past participle, past
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caking
present participle
idioms
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take the cake,
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to surpass all others, especially in some undesirable quality; be extraordinary or unusual.
His arrogance takes the cake.
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to win first prize.
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a piece of cake, something easily done.
She thought her first solo flight was a piece of cake.
noun
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a baked food, usually in loaf or layer form, typically made from a mixture of flour, sugar, and eggs
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a flat thin mass of bread, esp unleavened bread
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a shaped mass of dough or other food of similar consistency
a fish cake
-
a mass, slab, or crust of a solidified or compressed substance, as of soap or ice
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to enjoy both of two desirable but incompatible alternatives
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informal to be sold very quickly or in large quantities
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informal something that is easily achieved or obtained
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informal to surpass all others, esp in stupidity, folly, etc
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informal the whole or total of something that is to be shared or divided
the miners are demanding a larger slice of the cake
that is a fair method of sharing the cake
verb
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(tr) to cover with a hard layer; encrust
the hull was caked with salt
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to form or be formed into a hardened mass
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cakesimple
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cakessimple
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have cakedperfect
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has cakedperfect
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am cakingprogressive
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are cakingprogressive
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is cakingprogressive
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have been cakingperfect progressive
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has been cakingperfect progressive
Past
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cakedsimple
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had cakedperfect
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was cakingprogressive
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were cakingprogressive
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had been cakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cake
1200–50; Middle English < Old Norse kaka; akin to Middle English kechel little cake, German Kuchen; see cookie
Explanation
A cake is a baked dessert that's often topped with frosting or decorations. For many people, it's not a proper birthday without a birthday cake. Most cakes are made with flour, fat, a sweetener, and something to make the cake rise — like eggs or baking powder. You might prefer denser, richer cheesecakes or tiny, delicate cupcakes, or even a savory version made of potatoes and vegetables. If someone says, "Well, that takes the cake," they're expressing their surprise at something, and if you say, "That exam was a piece of cake," it as easy as eating a piece of cake.
Vocabulary lists containing cake
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.
See Examples For:
“If we play our cards well, we can have our cake and eat it too,” Van Nieuwerburgh said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
"I think all the high-end stuff that we saw from him which made him a player that Arsenal were going to go and target, that's the icing on the cake," said Upson.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
“This is potentially more of a swan song for Xavier Becerra, the icing on the cake for a long and distinguished political career, and for Gavin Newsom, it was a stepping stone,” Rosales said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
Now the Chinese also want to take a part of the cake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
She slices dessert—a chocolate skillet cake instead of Texas pralines.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Great America, the beloved hometown theme park for generations of Northern Californians, has announced there will be one more season of roller coasters and funnel cakes before the gates close for good.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2026
I tried a sample from a company called Voyage Foods, and I realized its strength is adding chocolaty vibes to cakes and confections, not replacing solid bars of milk chocolate, much less dark chocolate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Eventually, he was getting ghosted for food-preparation jobs, including at a company that sells frozen crab cakes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
The group has more than 30 bakers, ranging from home bakers who make one or two cakes a year to professionals with their own baking businesses.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Pita’s eyes sparkled with delight; she was all but devouring the baby cakes on the platter.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
The blender caked with a week’s worth of old food.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026
In “Digger,” he returns to serious cinema caked in prosthetics playing an oil baron who causes a global meltdown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
A photograph showed the second man caked in mud, his hands pressed together in prayer, as rescuers carried him on a stretcher.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
A fisherman dived down in the water and brought up a clump of vegetation caked in dark slime.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2025
As quickly as she could, Francesca made her way across the lawn, her shoes caked with mud.
From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate
The rain and fish goo caking my shoes has already begun to harden.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 17, 2023
The rain had stopped on Sunday and rescue teams and local volunteers were trying to pump out buildings and sweep away mud caking the streets before it could set hard under the sun.
From Reuters ● May 21, 2023
It’s figurative, embedded in the characters and the storyline, but also literal, with dirt and rot caking everything.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2023
A man named Gajendra Singh Quiriyal — the village’s grand pradhan, or leader — fell to the ground and convulsed on the fire’s edge, caking himself with ashes and embers.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
Ignoring the dirt caking my fingernails, trying to forget that these were a stranger’s leftovers, I stuck a sweet in my mouth.
From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
