recipe
Americannoun
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a set of instructions for making or preparing something, especially a food dish.
a recipe for a cake.
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a medical prescription.
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a method to attain a desired end.
a recipe for success.
noun
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a list of ingredients and directions for making something, esp a food preparation
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med (formerly) a medical prescription
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a method for achieving some desired objective
a recipe for success
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of recipe
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: take, imperative singular of recipere to receive
Explanation
A recipe is directions for making a dish or dessert, like your mother's award-winning recipe for chocolate chip cookies. The word recipe is most often used when talking about cooking. It includes two things: a list of ingredients that you'll need and the steps to take in order to make it. You can find recipes in cookbooks, on Web sites, in newspapers and magazines — or handed down in your family. Other than cooking, a recipe can also be a formula: the recipe for success is hard work, good timing and a little luck.
Vocabulary lists containing recipe
Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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Passover Vocabulary
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List 7
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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.
No precise recipe has been handed down through the generations.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 30, 2026
So, it feels fitting to cast it under the spotlight in this weekend’s recipe guide.
From Salon • Jun. 29, 2026
The burger has been sold at Petco Park ever since, with the same recipe, despite the online conspiracy theory that its three onion rings represented the Dodgers’ three World Series championship rings this decade.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026
"That leaves a very narrow space for them to actually enter into an export-led growth model, which has been the recipe for development and success for many, many countries," Gourinchas said.
From Barron's • Jun. 26, 2026
She plants a kiss on my head, then goes upstairs to find a recipe from some old book.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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.
