bake
bake — verb
1. to make food ready by heating it in an oven, not in water or oil
to make food ready by heating it in an oven, not in water or oil
Nina baked two potatoes while her brother washed the salad leaves.
bake + food object
The bread is baking now, so the kitchen smells warm.
progressive: bread is baking
Dad baked a chocolate cake for Emma's tenth birthday.
bake a cake
These fish pies bake well in small glass dishes.
intransitive: pies bake well
At six, the cookies baked faster on the top shelf.
- bake a cake
- bake bread
- bake cookies
- freshly baked
- bake in the oven
Grammar Patterns
bake a cake
bake potatoes
bread is baking
cookies bake quickly
Usage Note
Only sense normally used with food names such as bread, potatoes, or cake. When clay or bricks become hard from heat, use sense 2; when people or places are uncomfortably hot, use sense 3.
Common Mistakes
2. to make mud, clay, bricks, or similar material turn hard through strong heat
to make mud, clay, bricks, or similar material turn hard through strong heat
Workers baked the clay pots in a brick oven all night.
bake + clay object
Hot fires baked the new bricks before the builders loaded them.
bake bricks
The small bowl baked hard after three hours in the oven.
intransitive: baked hard
Maria baked the wet clay beads until they felt solid.
By morning, the test tiles had baked into a firm shape.
- bake clay
- bake bricks
- bake hard
- bake in a brick oven
- soften
means become less hard instead of setting firm
Grammar Patterns
bake clay hard
bake bricks
the bowl baked hard
Usage Note
Object is usually clay, mud, earth, brick, or pottery, and the result is that it turns hard. Distinguish from sense 1, where the thing being baked is food.
3. to feel or grow extremely hot, especially under strong sun or in a closed place
to feel or grow extremely hot, especially under strong sun or in a closed place
We baked on the beach until the ice in our drinks melted.
bake in the sun
The car was baking in the parking lot by noon.
progressive: was baking
Tourists baked under the midday sun and looked for shade.
By August, the upstairs room baked every afternoon.
room as subject
Rosa baked in the bus line under the July sun.
- bake in the sun
- bake in the heat
- bake all afternoon
- the car was baking
Grammar Patterns
bake in the sun
the car was baking
bake all afternoon
Usage Note
Common with place phrases such as in the sun, in the car, or upstairs, and often used for people, rooms, or cars. Distinguish from sense 1, where bake is about cooking.
bake — noun
1. a hot savoury dish made by cooking mixed ingredients together in the oven
a hot savoury dish made by cooking mixed ingredients together in the oven
We shared a chicken bake with peas after the game.
modifier + bake
Mum put the vegetable bake on the table beside the soup.
The café serves a tuna bake with salad at lunch.
serve a tuna bake
One cheese bake was enough for the four children.
After work, Ben reheated yesterday's pasta bake for dinner.
collocation: pasta bake
- pasta bake
- tuna bake
- vegetable bake
- cheese bake
- dessert
points to a sweet final course, not a savoury main or side dish
Grammar Patterns
a pasta bake
serve a vegetable bake
reheat yesterday's bake
Usage Note
Most often follows another food word, especially pasta, tuna, vegetable, or cheese. Distinguish from sense 2, which is about sweet baked items.
2. a sweet food, often a cake or bar, that has been made in the oven
a sweet food, often a cake or bar, that has been made in the oven
Ella brought a berry bake to the school fair.
modifier + bake
On the counter sat a tray bake with white icing and nuts.
After dinner, Grandpa chose a small chocolate bake with tea.
sweet item + bake
Three fruit bakes cooled on the rack near the window.
The gift box held six sweet bakes from the village bakery.
plural: sweet bakes
- berry bake
- honey bake
- chocolate bake
- sweet bakes
- savoury dish
describes a non-sweet food instead
Grammar Patterns
a chocolate bake
fruit bakes
sweet bakes
Usage Note
Common in bakery, gift-box, or home-baking contexts, often with flavour words such as berry, honey, chocolate, or fruit. Distinguish from sense 1, which is a savoury oven dish.
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: verb/1
For the main cooking sense, bake means cook something with dry heat in an oven. Roast is close, but it is especially common for meat and vegetables, often when you want a browned outside. Grill uses heat from below or above a metal bar surface, so the food cooks faster and picks up dark lines or a smoky taste. Fry is different because it uses oil or fat in a pan or deep fryer. You bake bread and cakes, roast a chicken, grill fish or peppers, and fry eggs or potatoes.
Etymology
Bake is an old English verb. It comes from Old English bacan, from an earlier Germanic root connected with cooking by dry heat. The core idea has stayed stable in English: making food, or sometimes other material, ready or firm through heat.