chef
[shef]
- the chief cook, especially in a restaurant or hotel, usually responsible for planning menus, ordering foodstuffs, overseeing food preparation, and supervising the kitchen staff.
- any cook.
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Origin of chef
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for chef
Contemporary Examples
In Japan, the master blender is the most important person in the production process and is as revered as a chef.
I innocently wrote a letter home to my mother telling her how great the French chef was in the headquarters canteen.
Chef Alex Armstrong prepared the meal for participants while Kaye schooled them in the art of reconstructing ex-rabbits.
Or you can mount a flayed rabbit to hang in your living room while a chef turns its innards into a nose-to-tail feast.
Now chef Dominique Ansel has created a Pop Art-themed ice cream sundae on sale for one day only in East Hampton.
Historical Examples
In an English hotel, would the chef sit down to talk with boots?
The Roof of FranceMatilda Betham-Edwards
He was chef d'tat-major to Massna, and a most distinguished and brave soldier.
Maurice Tiernay Soldier of FortuneCharles James Lever
Jean was proud of his art, the chef proud also, and the chef knew we were here.
The Lady and the PirateEmerson Hough
There was nothing at all fresh or affectionate about that French chef.
Working With the Working WomanCornelia Stratton Parker
I am the Signore Student's valet, his gardener, and at times his chef.
Mary Louise Solves a MysteryL. Frank Baum
chef
- a cook, esp the principal cook in a restaurant
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Word Origin
C19: from French, from Old French chief head, chief
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for chef
n.
"head cook," 1830, from French chef, short for chef de cuisine, literally "head of the kitchen," from Old French chief "leader, ruler, head" (see chief (n.)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper