1 a : to make (food, such as bread and cake) by preparing a dough, batter, etc., and cooking it in an oven using dry heat [+ obj] ▪ I baked you a cake. = I baked a cake for you. ▪ freshly baked bread [=bread that was baked recently] [no obj] ▪ He likes to bake. = He enjoys baking. [=he likes making pies, muffins, cookies, etc.]
b : to cook (food) in an oven using dry heat [+ obj] ▪ Bake [=roast] the chicken for 30 minutes. ▪ baked potatoes ▪ She wrapped the fish in foil and baked it for 15 minutes. [no obj] — used in recipes ▪ Wrap the fish in foil and bake for 15 minutes.
c [no obj] : to be cooked in an oven
▪ The turkey has been baking [=roasting] for an hour. ▪ How long has the cake been baking? 2 [+ obj] : to make (something, such as clay or mud) dry and hard by using heat
▪ They baked the bricks in the sun. 3 [no obj] : to be or become very hot
▪ The streets were baking in the afternoon heat. ▪ We stood baking [=sweltering] under the hot desert sun. — see also half-baked