piece of cake
Pluralpieces of cake
- 1A job, task, or other activity that is pleasant or, more loosely, easy and simple to accomplish.
Like coasting downhill instead of pedaling up a steep climb.
After months of practice, the recital felt like a piece of cake.
Negotiating the contract was a piece of cake compared with drafting it.
- 2A portion of cake cut or broken away from the whole.
The waiter set down a generous piece of cake beside my coffee.
Each guest left with a piece of cake wrapped in a napkin.
Practice
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Origin
Attested since 1936, originally in American English, this phrase possibly comes from 'cakewalk', or from the notion that many cakes taste good and so are 'easy' to eat. Compare French être du gâteau ('to be a cake') and être de la tarte ('to be a pie'), both meaning 'to be easy'.