cooking

1 of 3

present participle of cook entry 2

cooking

2 of 3

noun

cook·​ing ˈku̇-kiŋ How to pronounce cooking (audio)
1
a
: the act of preparing food for eating especially by heating : the act of cooking food
I do most of the cooking for our family.
b
: a manner of preparing food : cuisine
a technique used in French cooking
2
: food that is cooked
Do you like my cooking?
see also home cooking

cooking

3 of 3

adjective

: suitable or used for cooking
bought some cooking apples
cooking techniques
Cooking time is about 30 minutes.

Examples of cooking in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Noun
Frozen dill is best used in cooking and not in fresh recipes like salads. Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 5 Sep. 2025 There will be an array of events the weekend of September 26 to 28 at the Joseph—from a cooking class led by Top Chef champ Mei Lin to wine tastings to a cocktail mixology course—with the tentpoles being a pair of dinners that will show off very different styles of cooking. Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
For even more cooking inspiration, the Ninja Foodi Deluxe comes with a guide filled with 45 recipes, so, really, anyone in the family could turn themselves into a master chef. Kylee McGuigan, Popular Mechanics, 15 Nov. 2022 This was pre-cooking show on every network constantly. Alicia Kennedy, Harper's BAZAAR, 14 Nov. 2022 See All Example Sentences for cooking

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1791, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cooking was in 1596

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Cite this Entry

“Cooking.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cooking. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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