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bake off

B2 informal inseparable intransitive
In simple words

A baking competition where people show how well they can bake, or any competition where different options are tested against each other.

Literal meaning: To bake something until it falls or is removed — but as a compound noun/verb, it means a competitive baking event.

Meanings

1 B1 informal

A baking competition in which participants are judged on the quality of what they bake.

"She entered the village bake off and won first prize for her lemon drizzle cake."

"I'd like to see the contestants tackle a showstopper challenge."

— The Great British Bake Off, Channel 4 (general programme dialogue)
Grammar: inseparable
2 B2 idiomatic informal

(Business/tech) A competitive evaluation in which multiple vendors or products are tested head-to-head before a decision is made.

"The IT team ran a bake off between three cloud providers before choosing one."

Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes

Popularized globally by the British TV show 'The Great British Bake Off.' In business and tech, a 'bake off' refers to competing vendors or products being tested side by side before a purchase decision. Predominantly British origin but widely understood.

Commonly used with

competition vendor product winner judges finalist

Forms

Base
bake off
I/you/we/they
3rd person
bakes off
he/she/it
Past simple
baked off
yesterday
Past participle
baked off
have + pp
-ing form
baking off
continuous

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Synonyms

competition contest face-off trial showdown cook-off

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