take the cake

idiomatic phrase

variants chiefly US take the cake or British take the biscuit

informal

: to win the prize : to rank first

While it didn't take the cake for the warmest Christmas on record, it was close.

—Krista McEnany

—typically used to describe something that is very surprising, foolish, remarkable, annoying, etc.

There have been doozies in the flurry of free-agent signings … but the Giants' acquisition of quarterback Kerry Collins takes the cake.

—Peter King

Of all the invasions of her privacy, this one took the cake.

—Richard Peck

When he was quite sure that the narrative had ended he laughed noiselessly for fully half a minute. Then he said: "Well! … That takes the biscuit!"

—James Joyce

Examples of take the cake in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

All of Orveda’s products are excellent, but one of them took the cake this year. —Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 31 Dec. 2025

The Nasdaq Composite in 2025 Top stocks in 2025 Western Digital is going to take the cake, up about 291% in 2025. —Jason Gewirtz, CNBC, 30 Dec. 2025

This legendary Southern cake should always be on the baking agenda each year, and this beautiful, sky-high version takes the cake (literally). —Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 27 Dec. 2025

However, a midtown chocolate shop took the cake in Yelp’s list of 10 Outrageous Gourmet Hot Chocolates of 2025. —Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 19 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1847, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for take the cake

• radiopaque
• ache
• ake
• bake
• brake
• break
• craik
• crake
• fake
• flake
• hake
• jake