soak

B2 Topic:Cooking & Baking

US /soʊk/ UK /səʊk/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like choke /tʃ/ vs /s/ Sounds like sock /ɑ/ vs /oʊ/

Freq #10414

Meanings

1

verb
To leave something in liquid for a while so it becomes completely wet.

Soak the beans in water overnight before cooking.
2

verb
To stay in water, especially in a bath, to relax or get clean.

I love to soak in a hot bath after work.
3

verb
To take in or absorb liquid, often used with up.

The sponge soaked up the spilled water.
4

noun
An act of staying in water to relax or clean something.

After the long hike, a good soak in the tub felt wonderful.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with soak

soak up Phrasal verb B2

to absorb liquid or take something in

Thesaurus

Synonyms

4 noun · an act of staying in water... soaking

Word family

Forms soaks

Derived forms asoakoversoakpresoakresoaksoakablesoakagesoakawaysoakersoakywater-soak

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

soak up
to absorb liquid or take something in

Verb + adverb

Simplified etymology

Soak is an Old English word related to Old English sūcan “to suck.” Both are traced to an Indo-European root thought to imitate the sound of sucking.

Etymology

From Middle English soken, from Old English socian (“to soak, steep”, literally “to cause to suck (up)”), from Proto-Germanic *sukōną (“to soak”), causative of Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck”). Cognate with Middle Dutch soken (“to cause to suck”). More at suck.

soken Middle English socian Old English *sukōną Proto-Germanic *sūkaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cooking & Baking Actions & Processes

External links

# soak

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /soʊk/
**IPA (UK):** /səʊk/
**Frequency rank:** 10414

## Meanings
1. To leave something in liquid for a while so it becomes completely wet.
2. To stay in water, especially in a bath, to relax or get clean.
3. To take in or absorb liquid, often used with up.
4. An act of staying in water to relax or clean something.

## Examples
- Soak the beans in water overnight before cooking.
- I love to soak in a hot bath after work.
- The sponge soaked up the spilled water.
- After the long hike, a good soak in the tub felt wonderful.

## Derived Forms
- asoak
- oversoak
- presoak
- resoak
- soakable
- soakage
- soakaway
- soaker
- soaky
- water-soak

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: soken
- Root: socian
- Root: *sukōną
- Root: *sūkaną

## Etymology
From Middle English soken, from Old English socian (“to soak, steep”, literally “to cause to suck (up)”), from Proto-Germanic *sukōną (“to soak”), causative of Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck”). Cognate with Middle Dutch soken (“to cause to suck”). More at suck.

## AI Etymology
Soak is from Middle English soken, from Old English socian (“to soak, steep”, literally “to cause to suck (up)”), from Proto-Germanic *sukōną (“to soak”), causative of Proto-Germanic *sūkaną (“to suck”). Cognate with Middle Dutch soken (“to cause to suck”). More at suck. Important forms in the word's history include Middle English soken, Old English socian, Proto-Germanic *sukōną, Proto-Germanic *sūkaną. In current use it includes senses such as To leave something in liquid for a while so it becomes completely wet and To stay in water, especially in a bath, to relax or get clean.

## Topics
- Cooking & Baking
- Actions & Processes

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