baking
Americannoun
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the activity or practice of cooking food using dry heat, especially in an oven.
Baking can give cuts of poultry a crispy, browned exterior.
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food cooked using dry heat, especially bread, pastry, cakes, etc..
Nothing puts me into the Christmas spirit like the smells of holiday baking.
adjective
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extremely hot.
It was unseasonably cold last week, but this week it's absolutely baking.
-
used in preparing food cooked with dry heat, especially bread, pastry, cakes, etc..
I can't make cookies without a baking tray.
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suited for use in pies, pastry, etc..
Proper baking apples are needed for a good apple crumble.
noun
-
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the process of cooking bread, cakes, etc
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( as modifier )
a baking dish
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the bread, cakes, etc, cooked at one time
adjective
Etymology
Origin of baking
First recorded in 1300–50; 1650–60 baking for def. 3; Middle English; bake ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun senses; bake ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) 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.
It takes Gillaspia, who is known for his videos on running and baking sourdough bread, about 30-45 minutes to cook up a batch of the ground beef and white rice mixture.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
We’re still baking with I-don’t-know berries, because the market’s earnings yield is by no means a slam-dunk predictor of future returns.
From Barron's • May 14, 2026
Boiling before baking is a labor-intensive, but laudable, nod to old-school methodology.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026
Legend has it that monks baking pretzels in a basement bakery heard noises below them and alerted the rest of the city of an impending invasion.
From Salon • Apr. 28, 2026
Since Aunt Ivy had been reluctant to trade in her wood cookstove, I was well versed in how to use one, at least for cooking; baking was beyond me.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
