pancake

[ pan-keyk ]
See synonyms for pancake on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a thin, flat cake of batter fried on both sides on a griddle or in a frying pan; griddlecake or flapjack.

  2. Also called pan·cake land·ing. an airplane landing made by pancaking.

verb (used without object),pan·caked, pan·cak·ing.
  1. (of an airplane or the like) to drop flat to the ground after leveling off a few feet above it.

verb (used with object),pan·caked, pan·cak·ing.
  1. Informal. to flatten, especially as the result of a collision or other mishap: The car had been pancaked by the bus.

  2. to cause (an airplane) to pancake.

Origin of pancake

1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; see origin at pan1, cake

regional variation note For pancake

1. Pancake, hot cake, griddlecake, and flapjack, with its derived slapjack, are used interchangeably by many people, regardless of whether a pan or griddle is used for cooking, and each term is widely used throughout the U.S. Flannel cake, however, is confined chiefly to the North Midland U.S. and battercake to South Midland and Southern U.S. The following terms have limited regional use and may refer to flat cakes with different recipes or cooking methods: johnnycake, which is used in the Northeastern U.S.; corn cake in the Midland and Southern U.S.; and hoecake in the South Midland and Southern U.S.

Words Nearby pancake

Other definitions for Pan-Cake (2 of 2)

Pan-Cake
[ pan-keyk ]

Trademark.
  1. a brand of cosmetic in a semimoist cake of compressed powder, usually applied with a moist sponge.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pancake in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pancake

pancake

/ (ˈpænˌkeɪk) /


noun
    • a thin flat cake made from batter and fried on both sides, often served rolled and filled with a sweet or savoury mixture

    • (as modifier): pancake mix

  1. a Scot name for drop scone

  1. a stick or flat cake of compressed make-up

  2. Also called: pancake landing an aircraft landing made by levelling out a few feet from the ground and then dropping onto it

verb
  1. to cause (an aircraft) to make a pancake landing or (of an aircraft) to make a pancake landing

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with pancake

pancake

see flat as a pancake.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.