Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To cook (food) with dry heat, especially in an oven.
  • intransitive verb To harden or dry (something) by subjecting to heat in or as if in an oven.
  • intransitive verb To cook food with dry heat.
  • intransitive verb To become hardened or dry by or as if by having been subjected to the heat of an oven.
  • noun The act or process of baking.
  • noun An amount baked.
  • noun A social gathering at which food is cooked by baking and then served.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To cook by dry heat in a closed place, such as an oven: primarily used of this manner of cooking bread, but afterward applied to potatoes, apples, etc., and also flesh and fish: to be distinguished from roast (which see).
  • To harden by heat, either in an oven, kiln, or furnace, or by the sun's heat: as, to bake bricks or pottery.
  • 3. To harden by cold.
  • To do the work of baking.
  • To undergo the process of baking.
  • noun A baking.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To do the work of baking something.
  • intransitive verb To be baked; to become dry and hard in heat.
  • noun The process, or result, of baking.
  • transitive verb To prepare, as food, by cooking in a dry heat, either in an oven or under coals, or on heated stone or metal.
  • transitive verb To dry or harden (anything) by subjecting to heat, .
  • transitive verb To harden by cold.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive or intransitive To cook (something) in an oven.
  • verb transitive To dry by heat.
  • verb intransitive To prepare food by baking it.
  • verb intransitive To be baked to heating or drying.
  • verb intransitive, figuratively To be hot.
  • verb intransitive, slang To smoke marijuana.
  • noun UK, New Zealand Any of various baked dishes resembling casserole.
  • noun The act of cooking food by baking.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb be very hot, due to hot weather or exposure to the sun
  • verb heat by a natural force
  • verb prepare with dry heat in an oven
  • verb cook and make edible by putting in a hot oven

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English baken, from Old English bacan.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English baken, from Old English bacan ("to bake"), from Proto-Germanic *bakanan (“to bake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰōg- (“to roast, bake”). Cognate with Dutch bakken ("to bake"), German backen ("to bake"), Swedish baka ("to bake"), Ancient Greek φώγω (phōgō, "roast", v), Persian پختن (pokhtan, "to bake", v).

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Examples

  • "since it's your duty to ostracize and bake, _ostracize_ and _bake_, and be done with your ridiculous fancies."

    The Earth Trembled Edward Payson Roe 1863

  • KORMAN: Well, we had a team, a great team of photo editors from leading newspapers and magazines around the country, and on a daily basis, they would whittle it down, and at night, we would have what we call a bake off where the whole production team got together and voted on what images would make it to the next day.

    CNN Transcript May 16, 2003 2003

  • As we had no oven, mother had what we called a bake kettle; this was a flat, low kettle, with a cast cover, the rim of which turned up an inch or two, to hold coals.

    The Bark Covered House Nowlin, William, 1821-1884 1876

  • As we had no oven, mother had what we called a bake kettle; this was a flat, low kettle, with a cast cover, the rim of which turned up an inch or two, to hold coals.

    The Bark Covered House William Nowlin 1852

  • The bake is something a bit like baked rice pudding, made with heart-healthy oatmeal that is baked in a casserole dish with cottage cheese, milk, eggs, sugar and spices.

    Bites from other Blogs | Baking Bites 2009

  • I (gasp) think the Tom Douglas salmon bake is a good idea.

    Homeless Group Says It Will Protest Salmon Bake « PubliCola 2010

  • That would be awesome, I'm a newbie bread maker and would love to bake from a starter! jhanderson3272@gmail.com

    UPDATE ON: Who Wants a Starter for Amish Friendship Bread? 2009

  • I think one of the reasons I don't bake is because I too love to "play with my ingredients."

    Recipe for Seafood and Vegetable Stew with Rouille (Red Pepper Sauce) Laurie Constantino 2009

  • Just make sure you don't open the oven door until it's at least 30 minutes into the bake time - the low, long bake is key to the moisture.

    Archive 2009-05-01 Sarah 2009

  • Just make sure you don't open the oven door until it's at least 30 minutes into the bake time - the low, long bake is key to the moisture.

    Borrowed Baking Sarah 2009

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