cooking
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
Preparing something by the application of heat.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kuukingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkʊkɪŋ
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat
“Cooking can be a great art.”
uncountable
The process of preparing food by using heat.
uncountable
The style or genre of food preparation.
uncountable
The cheapest available beer for sale in a public house.
adjective
Designed or suitable for culinary purposes.
of an alcoholic drink
Cheap; better suited for use in recipes than drinking.
informal
In progress, happening.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat
Used this way, cooking is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Cooking can be a great art.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use cooking
- “Cooking can be a great art.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Prepare a hot meal.
United States journalist (born in England in 1908).
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A utensil for cooking.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Any of numerous vegetable oils used in cooking.
Cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel.
A kitchen appliance used for cooking food.
A kitchen utensil made of material that does not melt easily.
An apple used primarily in cooking for pies and applesauce etc.
Pure unsweetened chocolate used in baking and icings and sauces and candy.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A book of recipes and cooking directions.
A kitchen utensil made of material that does not melt easily.
A book of recipes and cooking directions.
A cooking utensil consisting of a flat rectangular metal sheet used for baking cookies or biscuits.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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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.