pancake

American  

[pan-keyk] / ˈpænˌkeɪk /

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 pancake landing.  an airplane landing made by pancaking.

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verb (used without object)

pancaked, pancaking

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)

pancaked, pancaking

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.

pancake British  

/ ˈpænˌkeɪk /

noun

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

   2. ( as modifier )

      pancake mix

2. a Scot name for drop scone

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

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

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verb

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

pancake Idioms  

1. see flat as a pancake.

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Regionalisms

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.

Etymology

Origin of pancake

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

Explanation

A pancake is a breakfast dish, a flat cake that's made by pouring batter into a hot pan and frying it on both sides. Many people like to eat their pancakes with a drizzle of maple syrup. While pancakes can be savory, they're more often a sweet breakfast food in the US. Most pancakes begin as a mixture of flour, eggs, milk, and butter, are fried on a greased griddle, and are circular in shape. Pancakes have a long history, stretching as least as far back as ancient Greece, and appear in various forms throughout the world, from savory African injera to the sweet Finnish dessert pancakes known as lettu.

Example Sentences

Dishes she's made range from panackelty, a stew consisting of potatoes, onions and corned beef, to Staffordshire oatcakes, a type of yeasted pancake, and Lancashire hotpot, made with mutton or lamb.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

Even when a potato pancake failed to flip on camera and spilled onto the stove, she accepted the mistake with grace, endearing her to similarly mishap-prone home cooks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

"We squished it flat, like a pancake," Zhao said, "and suddenly we had a low-cost, high-performing design that was much easier to fabricate."

From Science Daily • Jan. 19, 2026

“The pancake was the size of the whole plate!”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2026

She speared another pancake and put it on her plate.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• cake
• crepe
• waffle