Meaning & use
something is cooking
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Meanings
phraseidiominformalfigurative
Something secret or exciting is being planned or is about to happen.
Grammar: Usually used with something or a vague subject, often after I think or it feels like.
Patterns
- I think something is cooking
- something is cooking between someone and someone
The managers have been in that room for hours — something is cooking.
I think something is cooking between those two; they keep whispering.
phrasefixed phrase
Food is being heated and prepared so that it will soon be ready.
Grammar: Literal use of the present continuous; the subject is the food itself.
Patterns
- something is cooking in the oven
- something is cooking on the stove
Something is cooking in the kitchen and it smells wonderful.
Don't leave the house while something is cooking on the stove.
Common combinations
- something is cooking in the kitchen
- Something is cooking in the kitchen, so please stay for dinner.
- I smell something cooking
- I smell something cooking — is that bread?
- something is cooking between them
- Something is cooking between them; they've been texting all week.
- something is cooking up
- I don't know the details, but something is cooking up at head office.
Synonyms and how they differ
- something is brewing
- Very close in the figurative sense, but brewing often suggests trouble or a coming problem.
- something is in the pipeline
- More businesslike and means a plan is already being prepared, not just suspected.
- something is going on
- More general: it says something is happening, not that it is being planned.
Word family
Commonly confused: something is cooking or something is cooked? something is cooking or cooker?
something is cooking vs something is cooked
Is cooked means the food is already done. Is cooking means it is being prepared right now and is not ready yet.
something is cooking vs cooker
A cooker is the machine; a cook is the person. Learners often say 'cooker' when they mean the person.
Practice
A colleague whispers, 'I think something is cooking in the boss's office.' What does this mean?
Choose one answer.
In this figurative, informal use, 'something is cooking' means plans are being made behind the scenes. The literal food meaning is possible in a kitchen, but not in an office with whispering colleagues.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “something is cooking”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.