Word.ws English Dictionary

taking the cake

taking the cake is the present participle and gerund of take the cake.

Meaning of take the cake

Verb

take the cake (third-person singular simple present takes the cake, present participle taking the cake, simple past took the cake, past participle taken the cake)

  1. (US, colloquial, idiomatic) Used as an affirmation or accolade of someone occupying the top rank in a comparison or contest; to win or be the best (at).
    • Thanks! You guys take the cake.

Questions about taking the cake

What is taking the cake the present participle and gerund of?
Taking the cake is the present participle and gerund of take the cake.

Words near taking the cake in the dictionary

  1. taking the biscuit
  2. taking the bitter with the sweet
  3. taking the bread out of someone's mouth
  4. taking the Browns to the Super Bowl
  5. taking the bull by the horns
  6. taking the cake
  7. taking the chair
  8. taking the chill off
  9. taking the Chiltern Hundreds
  10. taking the count
  11. taking the coward's way out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking the cake (page history and authors); take the cake (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “taking the cake.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taking_the_cake. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.