VocabauraVOCABAURA

cook

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Someone who prepares food.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kuuk
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkʊk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A minor city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota; named for railroad official Wirth Cook.

  2. A ghost town in South Australia, Australia; named for Joseph Cook, 6th Prime Minister of Australia.

  3. An electoral division in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

  4. A local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia; in full, the Shire of Cook.

  5. English navigator who claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain and discovered several Pacific islands (1728-1779)

  6. A fish, the European striped wrasse, Labrus mixtus.

verb

  1. Prepare a hot meal

  2. intransitivefiguratively

    To be uncomfortably hot.

  3. transitive

    To concoct or prepare.

  4. Tamper, with the purpose of deception

  5. transitiveslang

    To kill, destroy, or otherwise render useless or inoperative through exposure to excessive heat or radiation.

  6. intransitiveslanghumorous

    To proceed with some plan or course of action, or develop some train of thought towards its conclusion (whether this is advantageous, or comical, or digging into a hole).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Word Aura is being prepared for this meaning.

More ways to use cook

  • “These potatoes have to cook for 20 minutes.”verb
  • “My husband doesn't cook.”verb

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “cook”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

captain cookgood cook

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • cookingnounInflected form

    The act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat.

  • cookedadjectiveInflected form

    Having been prepared for eating by the application of heat.

  • cookernounInflected form

    A utensil for cooking.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • cooking oilnounCompound term

    Any of numerous vegetable oils used in cooking.

  • cooking pannounCompound term

    Cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel.

  • cooking stovenounCompound term

    A kitchen appliance used for cooking food.

  • cooking utensilnounCompound term

    A kitchen utensil made of material that does not melt easily.

  • cook outverbCompound term

    Cook outdoors on a barbecue grill.

  • cook straitnounCompound term

    A narrow strait separating the North Island and South Island in New Zealand.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • cookbooknounRelated term

    A book of recipes and cooking directions.

  • cookwarenounRelated term

    A kitchen utensil made of material that does not melt easily.

  • cookery booknounRelated term

    A book of recipes and cooking directions.

  • cookie sheetnounRelated term

    A cooking utensil consisting of a flat rectangular metal sheet used for baking cookies or biscuits.

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “cook” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.