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cook

ˈku̇k 1 syllable common

  1. noun. a person who prepares food for eating

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

  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

Origin

Middle English, from Old English cōc, from Latin coquus, from coquere to cook; akin to Old English āfigen fried, Greek pessein to cook.

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