cake

[keyk]

noun

1. a sweet, baked, breadlike food, made with or without shortening, and usually containing flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, eggs, and liquid flavoring.

2. a flat, thin mass of bread, especially unleavened bread.

3. pancake; griddlecake.

4. a shaped or molded mass of other food.

   a fish cake.

5. a shaped or compressed mass.

   a cake of soap; a cake of ice.

6. 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)

caked, caking 

1. to form into a crust or compact mass.

verb (used without object)

caked, caking 

1. to become formed into a crust or compact mass.

   Synonyms: congeal, dry, solidify, harden

cake

/ keɪk /

noun

1. a baked food, usually in loaf or layer form, typically made from a mixture of flour, sugar, and eggs

2. a flat thin mass of bread, esp unleavened bread

3. a shaped mass of dough or other food of similar consistency

   a fish cake

4. a mass, slab, or crust of a solidified or compressed substance, as of soap or ice

5. to enjoy both of two desirable but incompatible alternatives

6. informal,  to be sold very quickly or in large quantities

7. informal,  something that is easily achieved or obtained

8. informal,  to surpass all others, esp in stupidity, folly, etc

9. 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

1. (tr) to cover with a hard layer; encrust

   the hull was caked with salt

2. to form or be formed into a hardened mass

Other Word Forms

• caky adjective
• cakey adjective
• noncaking adjective
• uncake verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of cake¹

1200–50; Middle English < Old Norse kaka; akin to Middle English kechel little cake, German Kuchen; cookie

Word History and Origins

Origin of cake¹

C13: from Old Norse kaka; related to Danish kage, German Kuchen

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. take the cake,

   1. to surpass all others, especially in some undesirable quality; be extraordinary or unusual.

      His arrogance takes the cake.

   2. to win first prize.

2. a piece of cake, something easily done.

   She thought her first solo flight was a piece of cake.

see eat one's cake and have it, too; flat as a pancake; icing on the cake; nutty as a fruitcake; piece of cake; sell like hot cakes; slice of the pie (cake); take the cake.

Example Sentences

Pumpkin cake layered with a tart cream-cheese ganache, dipped in white chocolate and painted in orange sugar, from a celebrated confectioner.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Flog Gnaw is known for its eclectic booking and a carnival-like atmosphere complete with games, rides and funnel cakes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Target is back to baking the cake. It’s putting the ingredients in the mixing bowl still and deciding how they come together.”

Read more on Barron's

But during a quiet aside, Minka ominously mentions to Liz that a chocolate cake made by the housekeeper tastes terrible, the observation sounding more like a warning than a culinary assessment.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"That truly would be the icing on the cake."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• loaf