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REFERENCE

bake

v. · n.
US //ˈbeɪk// UK //bˈeɪk// bake
  1. 1 to cook in an oven (v.)
    A1 Beginner Cooking

    to cook food like bread, cakes, or meat inside an oven.

    to cook food by dry heat in an oven. Often used ditransitively when cooking for someone else.

    Example

    I am going to bake a chocolate cake for my brother's birthday party.

    Example

    The artisan baker prefers to bake his sourdough loaves at a very high temperature to ensure a thick, dark crust.
  2. 2 to be very hot (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    to feel very hot because of the sun or a heater.

    to be subjected to extreme heat, typically from the sun or weather conditions.

    Example

    We sat on the beach and let the sun bake our skin.

    Example

    The hikers were forced to seek shade as the midday sun began to bake the valley floor, making further progress dangerous.
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  1. 3 to smoke marijuana (v.)
    C1 Advanced Slang

    to smoke marijuana.

    to consume cannabis, particularly by smoking. Usually used in the passive 'baked' to describe the state of being under the influence.

    Example

    He looked completely baked after the party last night.

    Example

    The film depicts a group of teenagers who spend most of their summer break getting baked in a basement.
    • get high
  2. 4 to incorporate or fix (v.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    to include something as a permanent part of a plan or a digital file.

    to incorporate something into a larger whole so it cannot be easily changed; in computing, to pre-calculate data like lighting into a texture.

    Example

    The cost of the insurance is already baked into the final price.

    Example

    The developers decided to bake the shadows directly into the environment textures to improve the game's performance on older hardware.

    Usage

    Often used as 'bake in' or 'baked into'.
  3. 5 a cooked dish (n.)
    B1 Intermediate British English Cooking

    a meal made of different ingredients mixed together and cooked in the oven.

    a dish consisting of several ingredients mixed and cooked together in an oven, similar to a casserole.

    Example

    She made a delicious pasta bake with lots of cheese on top.

    Example

    For the family gathering, he prepared a substantial vegetable bake using seasonal produce and a creamy béchamel sauce.
Origin

From Middle English baken, from Old English bacan (“to bake”), from Proto-West Germanic bakan, from Proto-Germanic bakaną (“to bake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₃g- (“to roast, bake”). Cognate with West Frisian bakke (“to bake”), Dutch bakken (“to bake”), Low German backen (“to bake”), German backen (“to bake”), Norwegian Bokmål bake (“to bake”), Danish bage (“to bake”), Swedish baka (“to bake”), Ancient Greek φώγω (phṓgō, “roast”, verb).

Word family
Idioms1 entry

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