(cakes)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A cake is a sweet food made by baking a mixture of flour, eggs, sugar, and fat in an oven. Cakes may be large and cut into slices or small and intended for one person only.
...a piece of cake...
Would you like some chocolate cake?
...little cakes with white icing.
N-VAR
2.
Food that is formed into flat round shapes before it is cooked can be referred to as cakes.
...fish cakes.
...home-made potato cakes.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
3.
A cake of soap is a small block of it.
...a small cake of lime-scented soap.
N-COUNT: usu N of n
4.
If you think that someone wants the benefits of doing two things when it is only reasonable to expect the benefits of doing one, you can say that they want to have their cake and eat it.
What he wants is a switch to a market economy in a way which does not reduce people's standard of living. To many this sounds like wanting to have his cake and eat it.
PHRASE: Vs inflect [disapproval]
5.
If you think something is very easy to do, you can say it is a piece of cake. People often say this to stop someone feeling worried about doing something they have to do. (INFORMAL)
Just another surveillance job, old chap. Piece of cake to somebody like you.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR
6.
If someone has done something very stupid, rude, or selfish, you can say that they
take the cake or that what they have done
takes the cake, to emphasize your surprise at their behaviour. (
AM; in BRIT, use take the biscuit
)
= take the biscuit
PHRASE: V inflects [emphasis]
7.
the icing on the cake: see
icing