# cook

Pronunciation: say "KUUK" /kʊk/

## Verb

1. To heat food so that it is ready to eat, often mixing it with other ingredients in the process.
   - Simple: To make food ready to eat by heating it.
   - _She cooked the chicken slowly in white wine and herbs._
   - _Most restaurants cook their pasta to order rather than in advance._
2. Of food, to be prepared by heating; to become done through heat.
   - Simple: To become ready to eat by being heated.
   - _The stew cooked slowly all afternoon on the back burner._
   - _These thin fillets cook in just a few minutes._
4. To make or concoct something, especially illegal drugs, or to make up a plan, scheme, or story (usually cook up).
   - Simple: To make something such as illegal drugs, or to make up a plan or story.
   - _Police say he would cook meth in a rented trailer outside town._
   - _The two of them cooked up an elaborate alibi before the police arrived._
5. To do something with great energy and success, as when a team plays well or musicians play with drive. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To be doing something very well and with lots of energy, like a band or a sports team at its best.
   - _By the third quarter the offense was cooking, scoring on every possession._
   - _When the band starts to cook in the second set, the whole crowd gets on its feet._
6. To defeat or humiliate someone, or leave them in a hopeless situation, as in 'we're cooked'. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To beat or embarrass someone badly, or leave them with no chance, as in 'we're cooked'.
   - _Once the storm washed out the only bridge back to town, we realized we were completely cooked._
   - _Their point guard is so quick that he'll cook anyone who tries to stay in front of him._
7. To tamper with or alter, especially records or figures. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To change numbers or records in a dishonest way.
   - _Auditors discovered the firm had cooked its books for years._
   - _Anyone can cook a spreadsheet if no one checks the source data._
8. To kill, destroy, or render inoperative through exposure to excessive heat or radiation. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To kill someone or ruin something with too much heat or radiation.
   - _A power surge cooked the motherboard beyond repair._
   - _Solar flares can cook the electronics aboard unshielded satellites._
9. To be or feel uncomfortably hot.
   - Simple: To feel very hot and uncomfortable.
   - _The fans were cooking in the bleachers by the third inning._
   - _Without shade, hikers can cook on that exposed ridge by midday._
13. To develop a plan or train of thought freely to its end, whether brilliant, funny, or far-fetched, as in 'let him cook'. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To follow an idea or plan to see where it goes, as in 'let him cook', even if it gets strange.
   - _Nobody interrupted; we just let him cook and waited to see where the theory landed._
   - _When Dana started explaining why the office plants kept dying, we decided to just let her cook._
14. To execute by electric chair. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To kill a prisoner with the electric chair.
   - _Facing a murder charge in 1930s Chicago, Eddie knew that if the jury convicted him, the state would cook him in the electric chair._
   - _They cooked the gang's trigger man upstate back in 1938._
15. To keep hold of a grenade for a moment after its fuse is lit so that it detonates almost as soon as it leaves the hand. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To hold a grenade for a moment after starting the fuse, so it explodes right after you throw it.
   - _The sergeant showed us how to cook a grenade for two seconds so the enemy would have no time to throw it back._
   - _He cooked the grenade so the enemy couldn't pick it up and throw it back._

## Noun

3. A person who prepares and cooks food, whether at home or as a job, as in a kitchen, ship, or large house.
   - Simple: A person who makes food, at home or as their job.
   - _The ship's cook served stew to the whole crew twice a day._
   - _He worked as a line cook for a decade before opening his own restaurant._
10. A person who manufactures illegal drugs, especially methamphetamine. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who makes illegal drugs, especially meth.
   - _Detectives traced the chemical orders back to a single cook working out of a rented trailer._
   - _Every cook in the network answered to the same supplier of precursor chemicals._
11. A session of manufacturing illegal drugs, especially methamphetamine. *(slang)*
   - Simple: One time when someone makes illegal drugs, especially meth.
   - _Neighbors noticed a sharp chemical smell every time the men started another cook in the trailer._
   - _Police raided the barn midway through a cook and seized the chemicals and glassware._
12. The degree or quality of doneness of food; how thoroughly it has been cooked.
   - Simple: How done a piece of food is, like meat that is rare or well-done.
   - _The judges praised the even cook on the brisket._
   - _A sous-vide bath guarantees a consistent cook from edge to center._

## Verb

16. To make the characteristic two-note call of the cuckoo. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make the call of the cuckoo bird.

## Other meanings

- (verb) In video games, to smelt; to process ore or raw materials in a furnace, converting them into refined items.
- (noun) An unintended solution to a chess problem, regarded as a flaw that spoils the composition.
- (noun) A European fish, the cuckoo wrasse (Labrus mixtus), once also called the striped wrasse, found in coastal Atlantic and Mediterranean waters.
- (verb) To throw; to hurl or toss an object.

## Origin

**Meanings 3, 10–12** — Latin cocus, which ultimately goes back to the Proto-Indo-European root *pekʷ- ("to cook, become ripe"), gave Old English cōc ("a cook") and then Middle English cook. Dutch kok, German Koch, and Swedish kock are relatives.
**Meanings 1–2, 4–9, 13–15** — The verb began in Middle English as coken, made from the noun cook. Its slang sense of going ahead with a plan was coined in 2010 by Lil B, a rapper from the United States, and spread through viral tweets and TikToks in mid-2022.
**Meaning 16** — Imitative in origin.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cook (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).