noun.a person who prepares food for eating

noun.a technical or industrial process comparable to cooking food; also: a substance so processed

verb.to prepare (food) for eating by a heating process

• Cook the vegetables over low heat for 10 minutes.
• The fish was cooked in a wine sauce.

verb.concoct, fabricate —usually used with up

• He cooked dinner for his guests.
• The point is that every country's numbers are the result of a specific set of testing and accounting regimes. Everyone is cooking the data, one way or another.

verb.to alter (something, such as records) with the intention of deceiving or misleading: falsify, doctor

• Agents discovered a recipe for cooking meth at his lab …
• Their defense got cooked.