cake
cake
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "cake" is /keɪk/.
/k/ - voiceless velar plosive
/eɪ/ - diphthong (as in "day")
/k/ - voiceless velar plosive
Word Form Variations
Singular Noun: cake
Plural Noun: cakes
Verb (base form): cake
Verb (third-person singular present): cakes
Verb (present participle): caking
Verb (past tense/past participle): caked
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Noun
Definition: A sweet baked food, often made from flour, sugar, eggs, and fat, typically in a round or square shape, and frequently decorated with frosting or icing. It is commonly served for celebrations or as a dessert.
Synonyms: pastry, confection, dessert, gateau
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms for this specific food item. One could perhaps consider "savory dish" as a broad conceptual opposite.)
Definition: A compacted or solidified mass of something, often undesirable or unintended, formed from a substance that was previously loose, liquid, or powdery.
Synonyms: lump, block, mass, slab, clump, crust
Antonyms: powder, liquid, dust, crumb
Verb
Definition: To form into a hardened or solidified mass, often becoming encrusted or matted. This can refer to substances sticking together or a material covering a surface thickly.
Synonyms: encrust, solidify, harden, congeal, clot, accumulate
Antonyms: dissolve, disperse, crumble, loosen, liquefy
Examples of Use
Books:
"Let them eat cake." (Attributed to Marie Antoinette, though historically disputed, this phrase from the 18th century remains a powerful symbol of aristocratic detachment in public discourse and literature.)
"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel features a scene where the protagonist attempts to make a 'cake' out of algae and other ingredients while adrift at sea, highlighting a desperate attempt at normalcy and sustenance.
Newspapers:
"The local bakery won an award for its innovative gluten-free carrot cake, a popular choice among customers." (The Daily Gazette )
"Efforts to clean up the oil spill were hampered by the way the crude oil had begun to cake onto the rocks along the shoreline." (Environmental Monitor )
Online Publications:
"How to Decorate a Birthday Cake Like a Professional" (Food52.com )
"The latest software update is the icing on the cake for this already impressive gaming console." (TechCrunch.com )
Various Entertainment Mediums and Platforms:
Film: In the movie Matilda (1996), Bruce Bogtrotter is forced to eat an entire chocolate cake, a memorable scene emphasizing gluttony and punishment.
Television: Many cooking shows, like The Great British Bake Off, center entirely around the creation and judging of various cakes.
Music: The song "MacArthur Park" famously includes the line, "MacArthur Park is melting in the dark / All the sweet, green icing flowing down / Someone left the cake out in the rain." (Jimmy Webb, 1968)
Video Games: In the game Portal, the promise of "the cake is a lie" becomes a recurring and iconic meme within the gaming community, symbolizing false hope and deception.
General Public Discourse:
"That presentation was a piece of cake; I finished it in no time." (Referring to something easy to accomplish)
"You can't have your cake and eat it too." (A common idiom meaning one cannot enjoy two desirable but mutually exclusive alternatives)
"After the heavy rain, the mud had caked on the bottom of my shoes."
"We celebrated her promotion with a delicious chocolate cake."
10 Quotes Using Cake
"Let them eat cake." (Often attributed to Marie Antoinette)
"The cake is a lie." (From the video game Portal)
"You can't have your cake and eat it too." (Common idiom)
"MacArthur Park is melting in the dark / All the sweet, green icing flowing down / Someone left the cake out in the rain." (Jimmy Webb, "MacArthur Park")
"A party without cake is just a meeting." (Julia Child)
"Life is like a multi-tiered cake." (Karen Salmansohn)
"I believe in an everyday God. I believe that the sun coming up every morning is a blessing; mountains are a blessing; my coffee is a blessing; my cake is a blessing..." (Oprah Winfrey)
"My advice to you is to be sure that your living is not a one-piece cake; it's a many-piece cake." (Clara Hale)
"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. And if you want cake, you gotta put up with the oven." (Dolly Parton, paraphrased from an original quote about rainbows and rain)
"If I had a dollar for every time someone told me 'you're the icing on the cake,' I'd have a lot of dollars." (Original quote)
Etymology
The word "cake" has a history that goes way back!
It comes from the Old Norse word "kaka," which simply meant a kind of "cake" or "flat bread." This tells us that people in ancient Scandinavia were already making and eating something similar to what we call cake today.
The first time we see "cake" used in English writing was around the 13th century (so, the 1200s). At that time, its meaning was pretty close to what we understand now: a baked, usually sweet, food item, often flat and round. It was essentially a smaller, richer, and sweeter version of bread.
So, in simple terms, "cake" traveled from the Norse languages into English, keeping its core meaning of a delicious, baked treat.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Cake
A piece of cake: Something very easy to do.
Have your cake and eat it too: To want or try to do two things that are mutually exclusive.
The icing on the cake: An additional good thing that makes a good situation even better.
Take the cake: To be particularly outstanding, often in a negative or surprising way.
Sell like hot cakes: To sell very quickly and in large quantities.
Go like hot cakes: To be sold or consumed very quickly.
Caking up: To form into a hardened or solidified mass (e.g., "The mud is caking up on my boots.").
A cake walk: Something that is extremely easy to accomplish.
Easy as pie/cake: Very simple. (Uses a synonym for similar effect)
Bake a cake: To prepare a cake by baking it.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of cake from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
