cook

II.cook² BrE AmE noun [countable]
[Word Family: noun: ↑cook, ↑cooker, ↑cookery, ↑cooking; adjective: cooked ≠ ↑uncooked, overcooked ≠ UNDERCOOKED, ↑cooking; verb: ↑cook, ↑overcook ≠ UNDERCOOK]
[Language: Old English; Origin: coc, from Latin coquus, from coquere 'to cook']
1. someone who prepares and cooks food as their job SYN chef:
He works as a cook in a local restaurant.
2. be a good/wonderful/terrible etc cook to be good or bad at preparing and cooking food
3. too many cooks (spoil the broth) used when you think there are too many people trying to do the same job at the same time, so that the job is not done well
⇨ chief cook and bottle-washer at ↑chief¹(3)

cook
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COLLOCATIONS
■ nouns
▪ cook a meal Shall I cook the meal tonight?
▪ cook breakfast/lunch/dinner Kate was in the kitchen cooking dinner.
▪ cook food The book also gives advice on healthy ways of cooking food.
▪ cook rice/pasta/sausages etc Cook the pasta for about 8 minutes.
■ adverbs
▪ cook something gently/slowly (=on a low heat) Reduce the heat and cook gently for 20 minutes.
▪ cook something well/thoroughly (=until it has definitely cooked for a long enough time) Beans should always be cooked well.
▪ be cooked through (=in the middle as well as on the outside) Fry the fish until golden and cooked through.
▪ cook something evenly (=until all of it is equally well cooked ) Turn the pie several times to cook it evenly.
■ phrases
▪ be cooked to perfection (=be cooked exactly the right amount, so it is perfect) All the dishes were cooked to perfection by the French chef.
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THESAURUS
■ to cook something
▪ cook to prepare a meal or food for eating by using heat: I offered to cook a meal for her. | Cook in a hot oven for 25 minutes.
▪ make to make a meal or a particular dish by cooking it or getting all the parts ready: John was making dinner. | I think I’ll make a salad for lunch.
▪ prepare to make a meal or a particular dish by getting all the parts ready. Prepare is more formal than make: The children helped to prepare the evening meal. | The dish takes a long time to prepare.
▪ rustle up /ˈrʌsəl/ informal to cook a meal or dish quickly using whatever is available: She soon rustled up a tasty soup.
▪ fix especially American English to cook or prepare a meal – used about meals you make quickly: Why don’t you take a nap while I fix dinner?
▪ do British English informal to make a particular type of food: I could do you an omelette. | I was thinking of doing a fish pie when Michael comes.
■ ways of cooking something
▪ bake to cook things such as bread or cakes in an oven: Tom baked a cake for my birthday.
▪ roast to cook meat or vegetables in an oven: Roast the potatoes for an hour.
▪ fry to cook food in hot oil: She was frying some mushrooms.
▪ stir-fry to fry small pieces of food while moving them around continuously: stir-fried tofu and bean sprouts
▪ sauté /ˈsəʊteɪ $ soʊˈteɪ/ to fry vegetables for a short time in a small amount of butter or oil: Sauté the potatoes in butter.
▪ grill to cook food over or under strong heat: grilled fish
▪ broil American English to cook food under heat: broiled fish
▪ boil to cook something in very hot water: He doesn’t even know how to boil an egg. | English people seem to love boiled vegetables.
▪ steam to cook vegetables over hot water: Steam the rice for 15 minutes.
▪ poach to cook food, especially fish or eggs, slowly in hot water: poached salmon
▪ toast to cook the outside surfaces of bread: toasted muffins
▪ barbecue to cook food on a metal frame over a fire outdoors: I thought we could barbecue some mackerel.
▪ microwave to cook food in a microwave oven: The beans can be microwaved.
cook something ↔ up phrasal verb
1. to prepare food, especially quickly:
Every night he cooked up a big casserole.
2. informal to invent an excuse, reason, plan etc, especially one that is slightly dishonest or unlikely to work:
the plan that Graham and Dempster had cooked up