Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense, plural cakes, present participle caking, past tense, past participle caked
1. variable noun
A cake is a sweet food made by baking a mixture of flour, eggs, sugar, and fat in an oven. Cakes may be large and cut into slices or small and intended for one person only.
...a piece of cake.
Would you like some chocolate cake?
...little cakes with white icing.
Synonyms: gateau More Synonyms of cake
2. countable noun
Food that is formed into flat round shapes before it is cooked can be referred to as cakes.
...fish cakes.
...home-made potato cakes.
3. countable noun
A cakeof soap is a small block of it.
...a small cake of lime-scented soap. [+ of]
4. verb
If something such as blood or mud cakes, it changes from a thick liquid to a dry layer or lump.
The blood had begun to cake and turn brown. [VERB]
Synonyms: solidify, dry, consolidate, harden More Synonyms of cake
5.
See to have your cake and eat it
6.
See to sell like hot cakes
7.
See a piece of cake
8.
See take the cake
9. the icing on the cake
More Synonyms of cake
cake in British English
(keɪk)
noun
1.
a baked food, usually in loaf or layer form, typically made from a mixture of flour, sugar, and eggs
2.
a flat thin mass of bread, esp unleavened bread
3.
a shaped mass of dough or other food of similar consistency
a fish cake
4.
a mass, slab, or crust of a solidified or compressed substance, as of soap or ice
5. have one's cake and eat it
6. go like hot cakes
7. a piece of cake
8. take the cake
9. informal
the whole or total of something that is to be shared or divided
teachers are demanding a larger slice of the cake
that is a fair method of sharing the cake
verb
10. (transitive)
to cover with a hard layer; encrust
the hull was caked with salt
11.
to form or be formed into a hardened mass
Derived forms
cakey (ˈcakey) or caky (ˈcaky)
adjective
Word origin
C13: from Old Norse kaka; related to Danish kage, German Kuchen
cake in American English
(keɪk)
noun
1.
a small, flat mass of dough or batter, or of some hashed food, that is baked or fried
2.
a mixture of flour, eggs, milk, sugar, etc. baked as in a loaf and often covered with icing
3.
a solid, shaped mass, as of soap or ice
4.
a hard crust or deposit
verb transitive, verb intransitiveWord forms: caked or ˈcaking
5.
to form into a hard mass or a crust; solidify or encrust
Idioms:
take the cake
Derived forms
caky (ˈcaky)
adjectiveWord forms: ˈcakier or ˈcakiest
Word origin
ME < ON kaka < IE base *gag-, *gog-, something round, lump of something (orig. < baby talk) > Ger kuchen: not connected with cook & L coquere
This whole arrangement of corps sectors has thus been likened to a layer cake.
McInnes, Colin NATO's Changing Strategic Agenda (1990)
Leave in the pan while you cook the fish cakes.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
She already is a great artist but this one took the cake for me.
The Sun (2011)
One problem is that cutting the cake exposes it to the air and makes it dry.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
This is followed by cake and ice cream.
Pressley, Michael & McCormick, Christine Advanced Educational Psychology For Educators, Researchers and Policymakers, (1995)
Turn the mixture into the cake tin.
Bennett, Carol Asthma and Eczema - special diet cookbook (1989)
To score is the icing on the cake.
The Sun (2015)
Roll the cake back to form a log.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Carefully fold the flour into the cake mix.
The Sun (2014)
Your lover is having his cake and eating it.
The Sun (2014)
Lipstick will cake and dry out in humidity.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Likes eating cake as well as jumping in muddy puddles with her brother.
The Sun (2013)
Turn out your potato cake and serve very hot.
The Sun (2013)
Top with a second cake and cover the top with the remaining cream cheese.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It became a challenge and thrill to steal biscuits and cakes and eat them without anyone finding out.
Wilkinson, Helena Beyond Chaotic Eating (1993)
Everything she puts her name to sells like hot cakes and moving into the art world could be very lucrative.
The Sun (2010)
We collapse in exhausted triumph with a glass of claret and a chunk of home-made cake.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The price of palm oil - used in products from cakes and soap - has risen by more than a fifth this year.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
cake
British English: cake /keɪk/ NOUN
A cake is a sweet food made by baking a mixture of flour, eggs, sugar, and fat.
...a piece of chocolate cake.
American English: cake
Arabic: كَعْك
Brazilian Portuguese: bolo
Chinese: 蛋糕
Croatian: kolač
Czech: dort
Danish: kage
Dutch: cake
European Spanish: tarta
Finnish: kakku
French: gâteau
German: Kuchen
Greek: τούρτα
Italian: torta
Japanese: ケーキ
Korean: 케이크
Norwegian: kake
Polish: ciasto
European Portuguese: bolo
Romanian: prăjitură
Russian: пирожное
Latin American Spanish: pastel
Swedish: tårta
Thai: ขนมเค้ก
Turkish: kek
Ukrainian: торт
Vietnamese: bánh ngọt
All related terms of 'cake'
barm cake
a round flat soft bread roll
cake mix
Cake mix is a powder that you mix with eggs and water or milk to make a cake. You bake the mixture in the oven .
cake pan
A cake pan is a metal container that you bake a cake in.
cake shop
a shop that sells cakes
cake tin
A cake tin is a metal container that you bake a cake in.
corn cake
a flat corn bread baked on a griddle
fish cake
A fish cake is a mixture of fish and potato that is made into a flat round shape , covered in breadcrumbs , and fried .
hot cake
→ pancake
oil cake
stock feed consisting of compressed cubes made from the residue of the crushed seeds of oil-bearing crops such as linseed
rice cake
a wafer or cracker made from puffed rice
rock cake
a small cake containing dried fruit and spice , with a rough surface supposed to resemble a rock
salt cake
an impure form of sodium sulphate obtained as a by-product in several industrial processes: used in the manufacture of detergents , glass, and ceramic glazes
slab cake
a large square or rectangular-shaped cake
soul cake
a round, sweet bun or small, oval cake , traditionally made to celebrate All Souls ' Day
angel cake
a very light sponge cake made without egg yolks
cake stand
a plate on a pedestal used for displaying cakes in a shop or café, or for special cakes such as wedding cakes
carrot cake
a sweet cake made with grated carrots
cattle-cake
concentrated food for cattle in the form of cakes
coffee cake
a sponge cake flavoured with coffee
cotton cake
cottonseed meal compressed into nuts or cubes of various sizes for feeding to animals