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cook

Syllabification: (cook)
Pronunciation: /ko͝ok/

Translate cook | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of cook

verb

  • 1 [with object] prepare (food, a dish, or a meal) by combining and heating the ingredients in various ways:shall I cook dinner tonight? [no object]:I told you I could cook (as adjective cooked)a cooked breakfast
  • [no object] (of food) be heated so that the condition required for eating is reached:while the rice is cooking, add the saffron to the stock
  • (cook something down) heat food and cause it to thicken and reduce in volume:cooking down the chutney can take up to 45 minutes
  • (be cooking) informal be happening or planned:what’s cooking on the alternative fuels front?
  • 2 [with object] informal alter dishonestly; falsify:a narcotics team who cooked the evidence
  • (be cooked) be in an inescapably bad situation:if I can’t talk to him, I’m cooked
  • 3 [no object] informal perform or proceed vigorously or well:the band used to get up on the bandstand and really cook

noun

  • a person who prepares and cooks food, especially as a job or in a specified way:a short order cook I’m a good cook

Phrases

cook the books

informal alter facts or figures dishonestly or illegally.

cook someone's goose

informal cause someone’s downfall:I’ve got enough on you to cook your goose

too many cooks spoil the broth

proverb if too many people are involved in a task, it will not be done well.

Phrasal Verbs

cook something up

concoct a story, excuse, or plan, especially an ingenious or devious one.

Derivatives

cookable

adjective

Origin:

Old English cōc (noun), from popular Latin cocus, from Latin coquus

cook in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of cook in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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