chef

noun

plural chefs
1
: a skilled professional cook
a trained chef
specifically : one who is in charge of a professional kitchen
I wrote to the chef of an acclaimed New American restaurant on the Upper East Side about my food experiences. He invited me to spend a few days in the kitchen on a trial basis. Adam Shatz
2
: cook
chef intransitive verb
chefdom noun

Examples of chef in a Sentence

The hotel's chef trained at the finest culinary institutes in Europe. He's the head chef at a five-star restaurant. a celebrity chef with her own TV show My friend is an excellent chef.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The company is run by a husband-and-wife team of chefs who met when Xavier Meers came from Belgium to open a restaurant in Richmond. Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 21 Jan. 2025 The chef’s kitchen and formal dining room sit alongside one another beneath a backlit wooden ceiling. Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 20 Jan. 2025 Already, some of the Triangle's most notable chefs are planning to open spaces inside of the Horseshoe this year, with chef Preeti Waas planning to debut an Indian restaurant there and the owners of the popular Prime Barbecue opening their second location there. Zachery Eanes, Axios, 20 Jan. 2025 The chef's organization World Central Kitchen — which provides meals in times of crisis — was on the ground in California on Jan. 10. Ana Calderone, People.com, 19 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for chef 

Word History

Etymology

French, short for chef de cuisine head of the kitchen

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of chef was in 1826

Dictionary Entries Near chef

Cite this Entry

“Chef.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chef. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

chef

noun
1
: a chief cook
2

More from Merriam-Webster on chef

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!