cook

cook¹ S2 [kuk] v

1.) [I and T]

to prepare food for eating by using heat

▪ Where did you learn to cook?

▪ Cook the sauce over a low heat for 10 minutes.

cook a meal/dinner/breakfast etc

▪ I'm usually too tired to cook an evening meal.

cook sth for supper/lunch/dinner etc

▪ He was cooking rice for supper.

cook sb sth

▪ She cooked them all a good dinner every night.

cook (sth) for sb

▪ I promised I'd cook for them.

▪ slices of cooked ham

▪ a cooked breakfast

2.)

to be prepared for eating by using heat

▪ He could smell something delicious cooking.

▪ Hamburgers were cooking in the kitchen.

3.) cook the books

to dishonestly change official records and figures in order to steal money or give people false information

▪ The Government was cooking the books and misleading the public over unemployment.

4.) be cooking [i]informal

to be being planned in a secret way

▪ They've got something cooking, and I don't think I like it.

5.) be cooking (with gas)

spoken used to say that someone is doing something very well

▪ The band's really cooking tonight.

cook up [cook sth<=>up] phr v

1.) to prepare food, especially quickly

▪ Every night he cooked up a big casserole.

2.) informal to invent an excuse, reason, plan etc, especially one that is slightly dishonest or unlikely to work

▪ the plan that Graham and Dempster had cooked up

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WORD FOCUS: words meaning cook

fry (=in oil)

boil (=in hot water)

bake (=bread and cakes in an oven)

roast (=meat or vegetables in an oven)

microwave (=using a microwave oven)

grill/broil (AmE) (=using a grill)

steam, toast, simmer, poach, barbecue, stir-fry, saute, chargrill

raw (=not cooked)

rare (=used about meat that has been cooked for a short time)

well-done (=used about meat that has been cooked for a long time)

See also: cookbook, recipe, culinary

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cook ²

cook² n

[: Old English; Origin: coc, from Latin coquus, from coquere 'to cook']

1.) someone who prepares and cooks food as their job

= ↑chef

▪ He works as a cook in a local restaurant.

2.) be a good/wonderful/terrible etc cook

to be good or bad at preparing and cooking food

3.) too many cooks (spoil the broth)

used when you think there are too many people trying to do the same job at the same time, so that the job is not done well

→chief cook and bottle-washer at ↑chief¹ (3)