overcook

«overcook» in Mova's school dictionary: To cook food for too long, so it becomes dry, hard, burnt… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (overcook, overcooks, overcooked, overcooking)

meaning for a pupil

1) To cook food for too long, so it becomes dry, hard, burnt or mushy. tree →

2) (informal) To overdo something, like telling a story with too much drama: «He overcooked the ending.» tree →

sense in the lessons

In cooking and everyday life it means the food is spoilt by too much heat. In writing or sport (UK informal) it means trying too hard or exaggerating. Phrases: «overcooked vegetables», «overcook the pasta».

examples

• Don't overcook the pasta or it will go soggy. tree →
• The steak was overcooked and tough. tree →
• Mum overcooked the cake and the edges were black. tree →
• Overcooked broccoli loses its bright green colour. tree →
• The writer overcooked the drama with too many explosions. tree →
• If you overcook an egg, the yolk turns grey-green. tree →

note

Past form «overcooked». Opposite «undercook» (cooked too little), which can be unsafe for chicken and eggs. Prefix «over-» means «too much».

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «overcook» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.