noun

cook

kuuk

noun

A person who prepares food, especially as a job.

"The restaurant hired a new cook for the evening shift."

verb

To prepare food by applying heat.

"She cooked dinner for the whole family."

"He's learning to cook a few simple meals."

(slang) To manufacture illegal drugs, especially methamphetamine.

"The film follows a chemistry teacher who starts to cook meth."

(informal) To tamper with or falsify records or figures.

"The accountant was accused of cooking the books."

(informal) To be doing very well or proceeding successfully.

"Once the team found their rhythm, they were really cooking."

How to Use Cook

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishTo prepare food using heat, or as a noun, someone whose job is preparing food. Informally it also covers faking figures or things going well.

Common mistake

"Cook the books" means to falsify financial records, not to prepare a recipe book.

Common pairings

cook dinner cook the books a professional cook

Word Forms

cooked past tense, cooken past tense, cooked past tense, cooked past tense, cooks plural, cook plural, cooked plural, Cooks plural, cooks singular, cook singular, cooked singular, cookest singular, cooketh singular, cookedst singular, cooks singular, cooks singular