cook up

phrasal verb

cooked up; cooking up; cooks up

1

: to prepare (food) for eating especially quickly

I can cook up some hamburgers.

He cooked this whole meal up in less than 30 minutes.

2

: to invent (something, such as an idea, excuse, etc.) to deal with a particular situation

They cooked up a scheme to fool their neighbor.

You'll have to cook an excuse up quickly.

Examples of cook up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The American scientific enterprise, the source of so much wealth and national prestige, is being unravelled before our eyes—research grants are being cut off, satellites disconnected, reports cooked up to meet the needs of particular industries and ideologies. —Bill McKibben, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025

After cooking up their burgers, Wesley entered the set holding the 15-month-old, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. —Hannah Sacks, People.com, 1 Sep. 2025

Rice slow simmers and cooks up tender, buttery, and creamy, but not mushy. —Marianne Williams, Southern Living, 31 Aug. 2025

Ferguson is often spotted in Kelce's suite on game day after cooking up meals for the NFL star. —Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 30 Aug. 2025

Rhymes for cook up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup