bake

verb

1. (ditransitive, intransitive, transitive)To cook (something) in an oven (for someone).

   “I baked a delicious cherry pie.”

   “She's been baking all day to prepare for the dinner.”

   “He baked her a cake.”

2. (intransitive)To be cooked in an oven.

   “The cake baked at 350°F.”

3. (intransitive)To be warmed to drying and hardening.

   “The clay baked in the sun.”

4. (transitive)To dry by heat.

   “They baked the electrical parts lightly to remove moisture.”

5. (figuratively, intransitive)To be hot.

   “It is baking in the greenhouse.”

   “I'm baking after that workout in the gym.”

6. (figuratively, transitive)To cause to be hot.

   “My dad told me about his days in the Navy: He'd agreed to be a guinea pig in exchange for a shorter enlistment. […] They baked him in the sun.”

7. (intransitive, slang)To smoke marijuana.
8. (obsolete, transitive)To harden by cold.

   “The earth […] is baked with frost.”

   “They bake their sides vppon the cold, hard stone.”

9. (transitive)To fix (lighting, reflections, etc.) as part of the texture of an object to improve rendering performance.
10. (figuratively)To incorporate into something greater.

    “Disagreements between pilots' unions are baked into the merger cake.”

    “Many of the causes of governmental dysfunction are simply baked into the cake of American politics and will never change.”

noun

1. The act of cooking food by baking.

   “Taking one of her cakes or a tray of biscuits from the oven always gives her satisfaction and a moment of pride; that is, of course, unless there happens to be some little element that doesn't please her with the bake.”

2. (Australia, New-Zealand, UK, especially)Any of various baked dishes resembling casserole.

   “A fish bake made with cod chunks, sliced parboiled potatoes, […]”

   “If you happen to have small, heat-proof glass or ceramic pots in your kitchen (known as ramekins) then you can make this very easy pasta bake in fun-size, individual portions.”

3. Any food item that is baked, such as a pastry.

   “Baking parchment should not be confused with greaseproof paper — the former has a non-stick coating and will ensure that your bakes lift out of the tin or off the baking sheets easily, the latter will have the opposite effect!”

   “Traditionally made with flour, salt, yeast and a large amount of fat or lard, it is claimed that the beloved bake has fallen out of favour with younger people.”

4. (US)A social event at which food (such as seafood) is baked, or at which baked food is served.

   “The central episode is the temporary burial of the novitiate; a shallow pit is excavated, and in this a fire is made, as for a fish bake; […]”

   “I am about to launch a scheme for our local to invest a few dollars in a spot where the boys will know where to find company and pass a few hours or a week-end out in the fresh air and partake of shrimp bakes or fish fries and so forget the on-creeping years.”

   “[…] also featured a fish bake, a dance, and a beach party[.]”

5. (Barbados, UK, US, sometimes)A small, flat (or ball-shaped) cake of dough eaten mainly in Barbados, similar in appearance and ingredients to a pancake but fried (or sometimes roasted).

   “For quotations using this term, see Citations:bake.”