cooking

American

[kook-ing] / ˈkʊk ɪŋ /

noun

the act of a person or thing that cooks.
the art or practice of preparing food; cookery.

adjective

used in preparing foods.

All of my cooking utensils are packed, so I had to order pizza.
suited for use in cooked food.

The Golden Delicious is our favorite cooking apple, especially for applesauce.

Other Word Forms

self-cooking adjective

Etymology

Origin of cooking

First recorded in 1635–45; cook ¹ + -ing ¹ for the noun senses; cook ¹ + -ing ² for the adjective senses

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.

This approach could also shorten cooking times, making it appealing for large-scale food production.

From Science Daily • Apr. 2, 2026

India's government has stressed that the country's energy supplies are stable, but several commercial eateries across the country have shut since the war began due to a shortage of cooking gas.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

Darling is one of a handful of companies turning animal fats, cooking oil, and food waste into diesel, jet fuel, fertilizer, and feedstock.

From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026

Takhar and doctoral student Yash Shah outlined their findings in two recent studies focused on how microwave frying changes what happens inside French fries during cooking.

From Science Daily • Apr. 2, 2026

It didn’t take long to find out that I knew absolutely nothing about cooking.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023