C19: from French, from Old French chief head, chief
chef in American English
(ʃɛf)
noun
1.
a cook in charge of a kitchen, as of a restaurant; head cook
2.
any cook
Word origin
Fr < chef de cuisine, lit., head of the kitchen: see chief
chef in Hospitality
(ʃɛf)
Word forms: (regular plural) chefs
noun
(Hospitality (hotel): Restaurant, personnel)
A chef is a cook in a restaurant or hotel.
Our chef is famous for her delicious cooking.
The talented chefs in the restaurant can prepare a variety of dishes.
The chefs have experience of cooking in a busy hotel kitchen.
COBUILD Collocations
chef
celeb chef
master chef
trainee chef
Examples of 'chef' in a sentence
chef
Some celebrity chefs are beginning to take the problem seriously.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Getting to meet your favourite chef while he cooks for you.
The Sun (2017)
Michelin-starred chefs have also helped to make Spanish saffron more fashionable.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The news that a Michelin-starred chef is to open a restaurant there seems unlikely to make him think again.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The couple told him that it was'tough and rubbery' and he passed the complaint on to the head chef.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Yet another scene shows her playing celebrity chefs.
The Sun (2009)
We are chefs in a hotel kitchen.
The Sun (2014)
Do you enjoy other chefs cooking for you?
The Sun (2012)
He claims that celebrity chefs make him sick.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Most people take this back to the chef in their hotel.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But we seem to spend more time watching chefs cook than cooking ourselves.
Joanna Blythman SHOPPED: The Shocking Power of British Supermarkets (2004)
Can you rearrange each set of letter blocks to spell out the names of five celebrity chefs?
The Sun (2015)
Chefs working in hotels and leisure complexes get four weeks a year.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But other celebrity chefs are said to have run out of ideas years ago.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Any evidence supplied of his good character or the suspicious behaviour of the hotel chef would be insufficient.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
And many thanks for fixing us up with a discount at our hotel where your cousin is the head chef.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
This was one of the restaurant 's chefs.
Zindell, David The Broken God (1993)
Burger vans got the boot for menus by Michelin-starred chefs.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He then got a job as an assistant chef in a restaurant in Runcorn.
The Sun (2011)
He has a housekeeper and a French chef.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
During the 1990s she worked again at the restaurant as a chef.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Did Michelin-starred chefs abandon their restaurants after the passage of hygiene standards laws?
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
I saw cleaners and nannies milling around, a chef cooking away in the back.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
There's a French chef in the restaurant.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In one case, a man from Tooting was dismissed from his job as head chef in a pub.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
I'm not setting out to turn you into Michelin-starred chefs here.
The Sun (2012)
In other languages
chef
British English: chef /ʃɛf/ NOUN
A chef is a cook in a restaurant or hotel.
American English: chef
Arabic: طاهٍ
Brazilian Portuguese: chefe de cozinha
Chinese: 厨师
Croatian: kuhar
Czech: šéfkuchař
Danish: kok
Dutch: chef-kok
European Spanish: jefe de cocina
Finnish: keittiömestari
French: chef cuisinier
German: Koch
Greek: σεφ
Italian: chef
Japanese: シェフ
Korean: 요리사
Norwegian: kjøkkensjef
Polish: szef kuchni
European Portuguese: chefe de cozinha
Romanian: bucătar
Russian: шеф-повар
Latin American Spanish: jefe de cocina
Swedish: kock
Thai: หัวหน้าพ่อครัว
Turkish: aşçıbaşı
Ukrainian: шеф-кухар
Vietnamese: đầu bếp
All related terms of 'chef'
head chef
the chief cook in a restaurant
sous-chef
a chef's assistant
celeb chef
A chef is a cook in a restaurant or hotel.
commis chef
an apprentice chef
master chef
A chef is a cook in a restaurant or hotel .
pastry chef
a cook who specializes in cakes and pastries
chef-d'oeuvre
a masterpiece
trainee chef
A chef is a cook in a restaurant or hotel .
chef's salad
a salad typically consisting of thin strips of chicken , ham , and Swiss cheese on a bed of lettuce , sometimes with slices or quarters of hard-boiled eggs and tomatoes ; usually served as a main course