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overcooked

UK/ˌəʊ.vəɹˈkʊkt/US/ˌəʊ.vəɹˈkʊkt/
adjectiveB1+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #11,866 of 15,258mostly spoken

Overcooked means left on the heat far too long. Overcooked pasta, badly overcooked, an overcooked steak.

What goes wrong depends on the food: meat overcooked loses water and turns tough, vegetables collapse, and eggs go rubbery because the protein squeezes the water out. It is one of the few cooking faults that cannot be undone. Figuratively an overcooked argument has been pushed too far.

Definitions of overcooked

  1. 1adjectiveovercookedLeft on the heat far too long.B1+

    “The pasta was overcooked and had turned soft and sticky.”

    • Said"The pasta's overcooked; it's practically soup. Sorry."
    • WrittenOvercooked vegetables slumped pale on the plate, the memory of every school dinner.
    • UsedTake the eggs off early; they finish cooking in the pan and overcooked eggs go rubbery.
    • ContrastOvercooked, not burnt. Burnt is black and bitter; overcooked is soft, grey and gone too far. burnt →
    • Not thisWell-done steak is not overcooked if you asked for it. Overcooked means more than anyone wanted.
    • Exchange"Is the fish overcooked?""A little. Lemon will hide it."
    • SimplyThe rice is overcooked. It is too wet.

    Patternovercooked + noun (pasta, meat, eggs) · badly overcooked · overcook · undercooked

overcooked is a cooking fault.

Remember it

OVER-COOKED → COOKED OVER the time

It was cooked for over the time it needed: dry, hard, and a little black at the edges.

hooks ontocook

Where it comes from

Over plus cooked. The prefix over- in this sense means excessively, as in overdone and overheated.

From over + cooked.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in In the Kitchen

Practise this word

overcooked in the wild

  • The noodles are known for breaking easily if overcooked.

    Misua

  • Since the second reheat finishes the cooking process, foods are not overcooked as leftovers often are.

    Parcooking

  • Akuri is cooked until almost runny; the eggs are never overcooked.

    Akuri

  • Even Godzilla boiled for 45 minutes would be appallingly overcooked.

    Blue Angel defamation case

  • Witnesses (including Spode) claimed to have eaten overcooked meals at the Blue Angel, and Marcello Marcobello's own father, Frank Marcobello, said he had reservations about chef Antonnella Cortese.

    Blue Angel defamation case

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.