# cooking

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkʊk.ɪŋ/ · frequency rank #3,287

## Definitions
1. The process of preparing food by using heat.
2. An instance of preparing food by using heat.
3. The result of preparing food by using heat.
4. The result of preparing food by using heat.
5. The cheapest available beer for sale in a public house.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **coping** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cooking-vs-coping)
- **cooling** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cooking-vs-cooling)
- **copying** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cooking-vs-copying)
- **coming** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coming-vs-cooking)
- **cookie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cookie-vs-cooking)
- **coding** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coding-vs-cooking)
- **coking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coking-vs-cooking)
- **closing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/closing-vs-cooking)
- **cookies** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cookies-vs-cooking)
- **coating** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coating-vs-cooking)
- **choking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choking-vs-cooking)
- **cloning** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cloning-vs-cooking)
- **combing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/combing-vs-cooking)
- **comming** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/comming-vs-cooking)
- **coining** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coining-vs-cooking)
- **choosing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/choosing-vs-cooking)
- **coloring** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coloring-vs-cooking)
- **clocking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clocking-vs-cooking)
- **cloaking** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cloaking-vs-cooking)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ccooking`, `cokoing`, `cooikng`, `cookign`, `cookingg`, `cookinng`, `cookking`, `cooknig`, `ocoking`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cooking