cooking

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat

   cooking can be a great art

2. 2
   noun

   The process of preparing food by using heat.

   The men resided in a huge bunk house, which consisted of one room only, with a shack outside where the cooking was done. In the large room were a dozen bunks; half of them in a very dishevelled state, […]

3. 3
   noun

   An instance of preparing food by using heat.

   In the tiny kitchen a dozen men and a boy tried to hush their breathing, and sweltered. For it was very hot, and the pent-up odor of past cookings was stifling to men used to the open

4. 4
   noun

   The result of preparing food by using heat.

   My cooking isn't very good. I don't have any idea how to prepare a good meal.

5. 5
   noun

   The cheapest available beer for sale in a public house.

   ‘Pint of bitter, please,” said Reggie. ‘Pint of cooking,” said the landlord.

6. 6
   adj

   Designed or suitable for culinary purposes.

   I filled the cooking pot with water.

7. 7
   adj

   In progress, happening.

   The project took a few days to gain momentum, but by the end of the week, things were really cooking.

8. 8
   adj

   Cheap; better suited for use in recipes than drinking.

   Bone a shoulder of mutton and lay in the following pickle for 24 hours, viz.:…half pint of cooking claret…and long peppers.

Etymology

From cook + -ing. The noun and adjective follow from the verb. The use of the word cooking to describe cheap bitter was popularized by the title character of the BBC sitcom Oh No, It’s Selwyn Froggitt (1974-1978). It refers to cooking sherry, a kind of sherry used in cooking but not suitable for drinking on its own.