cook
♦♦ cook /k'ʊk/ (cooks cooking cooked)
1 [VERB] V n, V, V n n
When you cook a meal, you prepare food for eating by heating it.
I have to go and cook the dinner...
Chefs at the St James Court restaurant have cooked for the Queen...
We'll cook them a nice Italian meal.
● cooking [N-UNCOUNT]
Her hobbies include music, dancing, sport and cooking.
2 [VERB] V n, V, V-ed
When you cook food, or when food cooks, it is heated until it is ready to be eaten.
...some basic instructions on how to cook a turkey...
Let the vegetables cook gently for about 10 minutes...
Drain the pasta as soon as it is cooked.
3 [N-COUNT]
A cook is a person whose job is to prepare and cook food, especially in someone's home or in an institution.
They had a butler, a cook, and a maid.
= chef
4 [N-COUNT] adj N
If you say that someone is a good cook, you mean they are good at preparing and cooking food.
5 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that someone has cooked the books, you mean that they have changed figures or a written record in order to deceive people. (INFORMAL)
6
see also cookingcook up
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
If someone cooks up a dishonest scheme, they plan it. (INFORMAL)
He must have cooked up his scheme on the spur of the moment.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
If someone cooks up an explanation or a story, they make it up. (INFORMAL)
She'll cook up a convincing explanation.
1 [VERB] V n, V, V n n
When you cook a meal, you prepare food for eating by heating it.
I have to go and cook the dinner...
Chefs at the St James Court restaurant have cooked for the Queen...
We'll cook them a nice Italian meal.
● cooking [N-UNCOUNT]
Her hobbies include music, dancing, sport and cooking.
2 [VERB] V n, V, V-ed
When you cook food, or when food cooks, it is heated until it is ready to be eaten.
...some basic instructions on how to cook a turkey...
Let the vegetables cook gently for about 10 minutes...
Drain the pasta as soon as it is cooked.
3 [N-COUNT]
A cook is a person whose job is to prepare and cook food, especially in someone's home or in an institution.
They had a butler, a cook, and a maid.
= chef
4 [N-COUNT] adj N
If you say that someone is a good cook, you mean they are good at preparing and cooking food.
5 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that someone has cooked the books, you mean that they have changed figures or a written record in order to deceive people. (INFORMAL)
6
see also cookingcook up
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
If someone cooks up a dishonest scheme, they plan it. (INFORMAL)
He must have cooked up his scheme on the spur of the moment.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
If someone cooks up an explanation or a story, they make it up. (INFORMAL)
She'll cook up a convincing explanation.