bake
- 01 A1 Beginner
v.to cook food like bread, cakes, or meat inside an oven.
v.to cook food by dry heat in an oven. Often used ditransitively when cooking for someone else.
Simple“I am going to bake a chocolate cake for my brother's birthday party.”
In context“The artisan baker prefers to bake his sourdough loaves at a very high temperature to ensure a thick, dark crust.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to feel very hot because of the sun or a heater.
v.to be subjected to extreme heat, typically from the sun or weather conditions.
Simple“We sat on the beach and let the sun bake our skin.”
In context“The hikers were forced to seek shade as the midday sun began to bake the valley floor, making further progress dangerous.”
- 03 C1 Advanced
v.to smoke marijuana.
v.to consume cannabis, particularly by smoking. Usually used in the passive 'baked' to describe the state of being under the influence.
Simple“He looked completely baked after the party last night.”
In context“The film depicts a group of teenagers who spend most of their summer break getting baked in a basement.”
Synonyms - 04 C1 Advanced
v.to include something as a permanent part of a plan or a digital file.
v.to incorporate something into a larger whole so it cannot be easily changed; in computing, to pre-calculate data like lighting into a texture.
Simple“The cost of the insurance is already baked into the final price.”
In context“The developers decided to bake the shadows directly into the environment textures to improve the game's performance on older hardware.”
UsageOften used as 'bake in' or 'baked into'.
- 05 B1 Intermediate
n.a meal made of different ingredients mixed together and cooked in the oven.
n.a dish consisting of several ingredients mixed and cooked together in an oven, similar to a casserole.
Simple“She made a delicious pasta bake with lots of cheese on top.”
In context“For the family gathering, he prepared a substantial vegetable bake using seasonal produce and a creamy béchamel sauce.”
Synonymscasserolegratin
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).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.