chef

American  

[shef] / ʃɛf /

noun

chefs plural

1. the chief cook, especially in a restaurant or hotel, usually responsible for planning menus, ordering foodstuffs, overseeing food preparation, and supervising the kitchen staff.

2. any cook.

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chef British  

/ ʃɛf /

noun

1. a cook, esp the principal cook in a restaurant

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• chefs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of chef

From French, dating back to 1835–45; see origin at chief

Explanation

Someone whose job is cooking food and planning menus at a restaurant is a chef. Many chefs graduate from cooking school, while others learn cooking techniques by observing and working with experienced chefs.. The word chef often specifies someone who cooks fancy or expensive food — in contrast, you might call a man who fries burgers at a fast food place or a woman who makes grilled cheese sandwiches at a diner simply cooks. The chef is generally at the top of the food chain in a restaurant kitchen, the boss of the other workers. Chef is French, short for chef de cuisine, or "head of the kitchen."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chef chefs

A Michelin-starred chef has called on the government to cut VAT for the restaurant industry.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Chung’s favorite dishes were prime rib and tri-tip that a chef seared to his preferred doneness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Inspired by chef Fabio Trabocchi’s recipe for sautéed rainbow chard, my recipe is abundantly green and calls for 1/3 cup of chicken stock.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

They hired Ed Ladou, the former pizza chef of Wolfgang Puck’s Beverly Hills restaurant Spago, to create California-style pizza.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

I was pretty much my mom’s sous chef growing up, which is just a fancy way of saying I was her kitchen assistant.

From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds

Top UK chefs call for cutting VAT for pubs and restaurants to 10%

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Earlier this year, four other top UK chefs and restaurant owners urged the government to cut VAT for restaurants and pubs.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

At one popular chain specializing in Peking duck in China, chefs mold foie gras into the form of a cherry to enjoy alongside the meat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

Of course, there is something absurd about celebrity chefs needing fake mustaches, prosthetics or entire undercover personas to determine that a restaurant is poorly run.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

A couple of kids tape pieces of loose-leaf paper into cone hats, and one dude manages to wedge a brown paper lunch bag on his head like a chefs hat.

From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli