cake walk

Noun

cake walk (plural cake walks)

1. A type of dance originating in the United States in the 19th century.
   • It is called the cake-walk. A large cake is prepared for the occasion, and, when the invited guests arrive on the gala evening, each young man selects a partner for the walk. After a great deal of merriment and confusion, the couples take their places on the floor and begin to march around the room...1881, A.L. Bassett, “Our monthly gossip”, in Lippincott's magazine, volume 28, page 208
2. From the mid 1900s, a game at a fair or party in which people walk around a numbered circle along to music. When the music is stopped, the caller draws a number from a jar and whoever is standing on or closest to that number wins a cake.
   • ... each of the marchers took his place beside the number nearest to him.1945, Robert L. Kilzer, “Cake-Walk Earns Money for Student Activities”, in Educational Reading Service: School activities, volume 18, page 340
3. (idiomatic) Something extremely easy.
   • The three mile run was a cake walk for "Blondy" Romig, of Penn State.1922, New York Athletic Club, “Easy for Romig”, in The Winged foot, volume 33, page 38