I. mi ‧ cro ‧ wave 1 /ˈmaɪkrəweɪv/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . ( also ˌmicrowave ˈoven ) a type of ↑ oven that cooks food very quickly using very short electric waves instead of heat:
I’ll heat it up in the microwave.
2 . a very short electric wave that is used in cooking food and sending messages by radio, and in ↑ radar
II. microwave 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
to cook something in a microwave oven:
You can heat it up under the grill or microwave it.
—microwaveable , microwavable adjective :
a new range of microwavable snacks
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THESAURUS
■ ways of cooking something
▪ bake to cook things such as bread or cakes in an oven:
Tom baked a cake for my birthday.
▪ roast to cook meat or vegetables in an oven:
Roast the potatoes for an hour.
▪ fry to cook food in hot oil:
She was frying some mushrooms.
▪ stir-fry to fry small pieces of food while moving them around continuously:
stir-fried tofu and bean sprouts
▪ sauté /ˈsəʊteɪ $ soʊˈteɪ/ to fry vegetables for a short time in a small amount of butter or oil:
Sauté the potatoes in butter.
▪ grill to cook food over or under strong heat:
grilled fish
▪ broil American English to cook food under heat:
broiled fish
▪ boil to cook something in very hot water:
He doesn’t even know how to boil an egg.
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English people seem to love boiled vegetables.
▪ steam to cook vegetables over hot water:
Steam the rice for 15 minutes.
▪ poach to cook food, especially fish or eggs, slowly in hot water:
poached salmon
▪ toast to cook the outside surfaces of bread:
toasted muffins
▪ barbecue to cook food on a metal frame over a fire outdoors:
I thought we could barbecue some mackerel.
▪ microwave to cook food in a microwave oven:
The beans can be microwaved.