Bake

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Bake, v. t. [AS. bacan; akin to D. bakken, OHG. bacchan, G. backen, Icel. & Sw. baka, Dan. bage, Gr. fw`gein to roast.].

•  To prepare, as food, by cooking in a dry heat, either in an oven or under coals, or on heated stone or metal; as, to bake bread, meat, apples.  [1913 Webster]

  " Baking is the term usually applied to that method of cooking which exhausts the moisture in food more than roasting or broiling; but the distinction of meaning between roasting and baking is not always observed."  [1913 Webster]
•  To dry or harden (anything) by subjecting to heat, as, to bake bricks; the sun bakes the ground.  [1913 Webster]
•  To harden by cold.  [1913 Webster]

  "The earth . . . is baked with frost."  [1913 Webster]

  "They bake their sides upon the cold, hard stone."  [1913 Webster]

Bake, v. i. 

•  To do the work of baking something; as, she brews, washes, and bakes.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  To be baked; to become dry and hard in heat; as, the bread bakes; the ground bakes in the hot sun.  [1913 Webster]

Bake, n. 

 The process, or result, of baking.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Bake, v. & n.
--v.
1 a tr. cook (food) by dry heat in an oven or on a hot surface, without direct exposure to a flame. b intr. undergo the process of being baked.
2 intr. colloq. a (usu. as be baking) (of weather etc.) be very hot. b (of a person) become hot.
3 a tr. harden (clay etc.) by heat. b intr. (of clay etc.) be hardened by heat.
4 a tr. (of the sun) affect by its heat, e.g. ripen (fruit). b intr. (e.g. of fruit) be affected by the sun's heat.
--n.
1 the act or an instance of baking.
2 a batch of baking.
3 US a social gathering at which baked food is eaten.

Idiom

baked Alaska see ALASKA. baked beans baked haricot beans, usu. tinned in tomato sauce. baking-powder a mixture of sodium bicarbonate, cream of tartar, etc., used instead of yeast in baking. baking-soda sodium bicarbonate.

Etymology

OE bacan

THESAURUS

Bake

air-dry, anhydrate, barbecue, baste, be in heat, blanch, blaze, bloom, blot, boil, braise, brew, broil, brown, brush, burn, choke, coddle, combust, cook, cure, curry, dehumidify, dehydrate, desiccate, devil, do, do to perfection, drain, dry, evaporate, exsiccate, fire, flame, flame up, flare, flare up, flicker, flush, fricassee, frizz, frizzle, fry, gasp, glaze, glow, griddle, grill, heat, incandesce, insolate, kiln, melt, mold, mummify, oven-bake, pan, pan-broil, pant, parboil, parch, poach, pot, prepare, prepare food, radiate heat, roast, rub, saute, scald, scallop, scorch, sear, seethe, shape, shimmer with heat, shirr, shrivel, simmer, smoke, smolder, smother, soak up, spark, sponge, steam, stew, stifle, stir-fry, suffocate, sun, sun-dry, swab, sweat, swelter, throw, toast, torrefy, towel, turn a pot, weazen, wipe, wither, wizen

ROGET THESAURUS

Bake

Calefaction

VB heat, warm, chafe, stive, foment, make hot, sun oneself, sunbathe, go up in flames, burn to the ground (flame), fire, set fire to, set on fire, kindle, enkindle, light, ignite, strike a light, apply the match to, apply the torch to, rekindle, relume, fan the flame, add fuel to the flame, poke the fire, stir the fire, blow the fire, make a bonfire of, melt, thaw, fuse, liquefy, burn, inflame, roast, toast, fry, grill, singe, parch, bake, torrefy, scorch, brand, cauterize, sear, burn in, corrode, char, calcine, incinerate, smelt, scorify, reduce to ashes, burn to a cinder, commit to the flames, consign to the flames, boil, digest, stew, cook, seethe, scald, parboil, simmer, do to rags, take fire, catch fire, blaze.