pancake

1 of 3

noun

pan·​cake ˈpan-ˌkāk 

: a flat cake made of thin batter and cooked (as on a griddle) on both sides

pancake

2 of 3

verb

pancaked; pancaking

intransitive verb

: to make a pancake landing

transitive verb

1

: to cause to pancake

2

: to knock flat

Pan-Cake

3 of 3

trademark

ˈpan-ˌkāk 

—used for a cosmetic in semimoist cake form

Synonyms

Noun

• flapjack
• griddle cake
• hotcake
• slapjack

Examples of pancake in a Sentence

Noun

We had blueberry pancakes and sausage for breakfast.

She wore sequins, false eyelashes, and pancake onstage.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Pageant queens helped out at the Nov. 11 Ramona Lions Club pancake breakfast. —Ramona Sentinel, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2025

More than 30 people were injured when floors of the building that was under construction began to pancake on top of each other around 1:30 p.m. local time on Friday, trapping construction workers in the debris and creating a large dust cloud that enveloped the area, officials said. —Britt Clennett, ABC News, 30 Mar. 2025

Verb

Some models suggest that a second moon, just a few hundred kilometers across, formed past the far side and then slowly approached the moon and pancaked itself. —Paul Sutter, Space.com, 17 Mar. 2025

There's no flipping required to serve up homemade, buttery pancakes the moment the family comes downstairs. —Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 20 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1911, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Phrases Containing pancake

• Dutch baby pancake
• flat as a pancake
• pancake landing
• pancake plant
• potato pancake

Rhymes for pancake

• awake
• backache
• beefsteak
• betake
• cheesecake
• cupcake
• daybreak
• earthquake
• eastlake
• forsake
• handshake
• headache

Kids Definition

pancake

noun

pan·​cake

ˈpan-ˌkāk

: a flat cake usually made of thin batter and cooked on both sides on a griddle or in a frying pan