cookie

[ kook-ee ]

noun

, plural cook·ies

1. a small, usually round and flat cake, the size of an individual portion, made from stiff, sweetened dough, and baked.
2. Informal. dear; sweetheart (a term of address, usually connoting affection).
3. Slang.
   1. a person, usually of a specified character or type:

      a smart cookie;

      a tough cookie.

   2. an alluring young woman.
4. Also called http cookie;. Digital Technology. a file or segment of data that identifies a unique user over time and across interactions with a website, sent by the web server through a browser, stored on a user’s hard drive, and sent back to the server each time the browser requests a web page:

   Your browser will run more efficiently after you clear the cache and cookies.

5. South Atlantic States (chiefly North Carolina). a doughnut.
6. Scot. a bun.

verb (used with object)

cookiedcookieing or cookying

1. Digital Technology. to assign a cookie or cookies to (a website user):

   I'm not really comfortable being cookied all the time.

cookie

/ ˈkʊkɪ /

noun

1. a small flat dry sweet or plain cake of many varieties, baked from a dough Also called (in Britain and certain other countries)biscuit
2. a Scot word for bun
3. informal.
   a person

   smart cookie

4. computing a piece of data downloaded to a computer by a website, containing details of the preferences of that computer's user which identify the user when revisiting that website
5. that's the way the cookie crumbles informal.
   matters are inevitably or unalterably so

cookie

/ kk′ē /

1. A collection of information, usually including a username and the current date and time, stored on the local computer of a person using the World Wide Web, used chiefly by websites to identify users who have previously registered or visited the site. Cookies are used to relate one computer transaction to a later one.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cookie¹

First recorded in 1750–55; from Dutch koekie, dialectal variant of koekje, equivalent to koek “biscuit, cake” + -je diminutive suffix; cake none

Word History and Origins

Origin of cookie¹

C18: from Dutch koekje, diminutive of koek cake

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. toss / spill one's cookies, Slang. to vomit.

More idioms and phrases containing cookie

see hand in the till (cookie jar) ; that's how the ball bounces (cookie crumbles) ; toss one's cookies .

Example Sentences

“Every time Chad loses his shirt, have a sip of wine, beer or eat a cookie,” he laughs over Zoom, as one hand brushes his golden strands behind his ear.

From Los Angeles Times

Walking off the 18th green Wednesday afternoon, Palisades High golfer Anna Song was greeted by her coach Dave Suarez, who offered her a choice of a brownie or a cookie.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s topped with whipped cream, caramel and cookie butter crumble.

From Salon

She credited her optimism to her mother, a “tough cookie” who found creative ways to make their finances work after she was widowed, including renting out the front of the family home.

From Los Angeles Times

As Day and Gardner struggle to keep the show on track, viewers calling in ask questions like, “Is the cookie available in different ethnicities?”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• biscuit
• wafer