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cooking with gas. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
cooking with gas, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
cooking with gas in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
cooking with gas you have here. The definition of the word
cooking with gas will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
cooking with gas, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From the suggestion, heavily advertised in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that stoves using natural gas as a fuel cook more effectively than, for instance, wood-burning or electric stoves.
Pronunciation
Phrase
cooking with gas
- (idiomatic) Functioning particularly effectively; achieving something substantial.
- 1983, Raymond Carver, 'Cathedral' (short story)
- She said, 'What are you doing? Tell me, I want to know.'
The blind man said, 'We're drawing a cathedral. Me and him are working on it. Press hard,' he said to me. 'That's right. That's good,' he said. 'Sure. You got it, bub. I can tell. You didn't think you could. But you can, can't you? You're cooking with gas now. You know what I'm saying? We're really going to have us something here in a minute. How's the old arm?' he said. 'Put some people in there now. What's a cathedral without people?'
- With the updated software, I was really cooking with gas. I got the project done in half the time.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cook, with, gas.
Usage notes
- Grammatically, a use of the "-ing" form of cook + the prepositional phrase "with gas". Together with a form of be this forms a progressive verb predicate. Only rarely are other forms used in this idiomatic sense.
See also