cake

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
cake/keɪk/

▶noun

• 1 an item of soft sweet food made from baking a mixture of flour, fat, eggs, sugar, etc.

• 2 an item of savoury food formed into a flat round shape, and baked or fried.

  ■ a flattish compact mass of something: a cake of soap.

• 3 the amount of money or assets regarded as available for sharing: a fair slice of the education cake.

▶verb (of a thick or sticky substance) cover and become encrusted on.

– phrases
cakes and ale dated merrymaking.
a piece of cake informal something easily achieved.
sell like hot cakes informal be sold quickly and in large quantities.
take the cake see take the biscuit at biscuit.

– derivatives
cakey adjective (informal).

– origin ME (denoting a small flat bread roll): of Scand. origin.