What does "cake" mean?
A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing.
Cake
/keɪk/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing.
- Grammar: cake is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: angel cake, angel food cake, baked alaska, bar.
- Useful contrasts: biscuits, bread, clear.
- Usage evidence: Can you imagine me making a cake?
How to use "cake"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cake" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cake" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cake" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cake" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "cake" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "angel cake" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "cake", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing. countable, uncountable
"On Monday afternoon, Ronya attends a birthday party and eats cake whenever cake is presented to her."
- 2 a block of solid substance (such as soap or wax) wordnet
- 3 A small mass of baked dough, especially a thin loaf from unleavened dough. countable, uncountable
"an oatmeal cake"
- 4 food made from or based on a mixture of flour, sugar, eggs, and fat, typically cooked in an oven wordnet
- 5 A thin wafer-shaped mass of fried batter; a griddlecake or pancake. countable, uncountable
"buckwheat cakes"
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 small flat mass of chopped or ground food wordnet
- 7 A block of any various dense materials. countable, uncountable
"a cake of soap"
- 8 Ellipsis of piece of cake: a trivially easy task or responsibility. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, slang, uncountable
"Now that I escape, sleepwalk awake / Those who could relate know the world ain't cake"
- 9 Money. countable, slang, uncountable
- 10 Used to describe the doctrine of having one's cake and eating it too. countable, uncountable
""It looks like the cake [and eat it] philosophy is still alive." Quote attributed to Donald Tusk."
- 11 A pair of buttocks, especially one that is exceptionally plump or full. countable, slang, uncountable
"Since I started doing squats, I've built up some serious cake."
- 12 A multishot fireworks assembly comprising several tubes, each with a fireworks effect, lit by a single fuse. countable, uncountable
- 13 A foolish person. UK, countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable
""The Lord Mayor can say tart things," said Hobler to a scavenger. "Yes," replied the dustman, "he does say things that are tart, which is not to be wondered at when we know him to be a regular cake.""
Verb
- 1 Coat (something) with a crust of solid material. transitive
"His shoes are caked with mud."
- 2 form a coat over wordnet
- 3 To form into a cake, or mass. transitive
- 4 Of blood or other liquid, to dry out and become hard. intransitive
"Once we fell asleep, and, I think, must have slept for some hours, for, when we woke, our limbs were quite stiff, and the blood from our blows and scratches had caked, and was hard and dry upon our skin."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Can you imagine me making a cake?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cake"?
Common synonyms include: angel cake, angel food cake, baked alaska, bar, bar, block.
How do you use "cake" in a sentence?
Can you imagine me making a cake?
How do you pronounce "cake"?
Pronounced /keɪk/.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *kakǭ Old Norse kakabor. Middle English cake English cake From Middle English cake, from Old Norse kaka (“cake”) (compare Norwegian kake, Icelandic/Swedish kaka, Danish kage), from Proto-Germanic *kakǭ, of disputed origin. Likely a distant cognate with kaak. Perhaps related to cookie, kuchen, and quiche. Doublet of coca (pastry).