cook

[koo k]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cook ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to prepare (food) by the use of heat, as by boiling, baking, or roasting.

to subject (anything) to the application of heat.

Slang. to ruin; spoil.

Informal. to falsify, as accounts: to cook the expense figures.

verb (used without object)

to prepare food by the use of heat.

(of food) to undergo cooking.

Slang.

to be full of activity and excitement: Las Vegas cooks around the clock.
to perform, work, or do in just the right way and with energy and enthusiasm: That new drummer is really cooking tonight. Now you're cooking!
to be in preparation; develop: Plans for the new factory have been cooking for several years.
to take place; occur; happen: What's cooking at the club?

noun

a person who cooks: The restaurant hired a new cook.

Verb Phrases

cook off, (of a shell or cartridge) to explode or fire without being triggered as a result of overheating in the chamber of the weapon.

cook up, Informal.

to concoct or contrive, often dishonestly: She hastily cooked up an excuse.
to falsify: Someone had obviously cooked up the alibi.

Idioms

cook one's goose. goose(def 11).

cook the books, Slang. to manipulate the financial records of a company, organization, etc., so as to conceal profits, avoid taxes, or present a false financial report to stockholders.

Origin of cook

before 1000; (noun) Middle English cok(e), Old English cōc (compare Old Norse kokkr, German Koch, Dutch kok) < Latin cocus, coquus, derivative of coquere to cook; akin to Greek péptein (see peptic); (v.) late Middle English coken, derivative of the noun

Related formscook·a·ble, adjectivecook·less, adjectiveun·cook·a·ble, adjective

cook

[kook, koo k]

verb (used without object) Scot.

to hide, especially outdoors, as by crouching down behind a hedge.

Origin of cook

1780–90; perhaps blend of Middle English couche bend, stoop (see couch) and Middle English croke bend, stoop (see crooked)

Cook

[koo k]

noun

Frederick Albert,1865–1940, U.S. physician and polar explorer.

George Cram

[kram] /kræm/, 1873–1924, U.S. novelist, dramatist, and poet.

Captain James,1728–79, English navigator and explorer in the S Pacific, Antarctic Ocean, and along the coasts of Australia and New Zealand.

Sir Joseph,1860–1947, Australian statesman, born in England: prime minister 1913–14.

Mount. Also called Aorangi. a mountain in New Zealand, on South Island. 12,349 feet (3764 meters).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cook

servant, baker, chef, poach, sear, reduce, griddle, ruin, seethe, melt, barbecue, bake, imbue, blanch, scald, nuke, doctor, fix, parboil, parch

Examples from the Web for cook

Contemporary Examples of cook

Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is smooth.
Make ‘The Chew’s’ Carla Hall’s Sticky Toffee Pudding
Carla Hall
December 28, 2014
Continue to cook until the sauce has reduced by three quarters.
Make Carla Hall’s Roasted Pork Loin With Cranberries
Carla Hall
December 24, 2014
In his response, Cook spoke sensitively about the very real danger present in the general pickup community.
School Shooters Love This Pickup Artist Website
Brandy Zadrozny
December 5, 2014
“It's insane to see what the extreme version of that type of helpless anger combined with mental illness can create,” Cook wrote.
School Shooters Love This Pickup Artist Website
Brandy Zadrozny
December 5, 2014
An older white woman, stopped Cook to ask, in strong New York accent, “Oh no, did they let him off?”
‘They Let Him Off?’ Scenes from NYC in Disbelief
Jacob Siegel
December 4, 2014

Historical Examples of cook

I've knocked about in all sorts of places, and it won't be the first time I've served as cook.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
"So is the cook usefully employed while preparing dinner," said Philip.
Malbone
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Now say, 'Emma, you are one in a million, and a cook besides.'
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
His father is away this week and there was no one in the house but the cook.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
Cook the potatoes and onions in the water until they are soft.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

British Dictionary definitions for cook

cook

verb

to prepare (food) by the action of heat, as by boiling, baking, etc, or (of food) to become ready for eating through such a processRelated adjective: culinary

to subject or be subjected to the action of intense heatthe town cooked in the sun

(tr) slang to alter or falsify (something, esp figures, accounts, etc)to cook the books

(tr) slang to spoil or ruin (something)

(intr) slang to happen (esp in the phrase what's cooking?)

(tr) slang to prepare (any of several drugs) by heating

(intr) music slang to play vigorouslythe band was cooking

cook someone's goose informal

to spoil a person's plans
to bring about someone's ruin, downfall, etc

noun

a person who prepares food for eating, esp as an occupation

Word Origin for cook

Old English cōc (n), from Latin coquus a cook, from coquere to cook

Cook

noun Mount Cook

a mountain in New Zealand, in the South Island, in the Southern Alps: the highest peak in New Zealand. Height: reduced in 1991 by a rockfall from 3764 m (12 349 ft) to 3754 m (12 316 ft)Official name: Aoraki-Mount Cook

a mountain in SE Alaska, in the St Elias Mountains. Height: 4194 m (13 760 ft)

Cook

noun

Captain James . 1728–79, British navigator and explorer: claimed the E coast of Australia for Britain, circumnavigated New Zealand, and discovered several Pacific and Atlantic islands (1768–79)

Sir Joseph. 1860–1947, Australian statesman, born in England: prime minister of Australia (1913–14)

Peter (Edward). 1937–95, British comedy actor and writer, noted esp for his partnership (1960–73) with Dudley Moore

Robin, full name Robert Finlayson Cook . 1946–2005, British Labour politician; foreign secretary (1997–2001), Leader of the House (2001-2003)

Thomas. 1808–92, British travel agent; innovator of conducted excursions and founder of the travel agents Thomas Cook and Son

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 cook

Old English coc, from Vulgar Latin cocus "cook," from Latin coquus, from coquere "to cook, prepare food, ripen, digest, turn over in the mind" from PIE root *pekw- "to cook" (cf. Oscan popina "kitchen," Sanskrit pakvah "cooked," Greek peptein, Lithuanian kepti "to bake, roast," Old Church Slavonic pecenu "roasted," Welsh poeth "cooked, baked, hot"). Germanic languages had no one native term for all types of cooking, and borrowed the Latin word (Old Saxon kok, Old High German choh, German Koch, Swedish kock).

There is the proverb, the more cooks the worse potage. [Gascoigne, 1575]

late 14c., from cook (n.); the figurative sense of "to manipulate, falsify, doctor" is from 1630s. Related: Cooked, cooking. To cook with gas is 1930s jive talk.

Idioms and Phrases with cook

cook

In addition to the idioms beginning with cook

cook someone's goose
cook the books
cook up
cook with gas

also see:

chief cook and bottlewasher
short order (cook)
too many cooks spoil the broth
what's cooking