piece of cake
51
1.0
- idiom
- /pis əv keɪk/
- Informal
:
pan comido
- He found that the quiz was just a piece of cake and finished it in ten minutes.
- job's a piece of cake
- piece of cake, really
- seem like a piece of cake
Make it change that flight, if you could, to Lisbon, because this is a piece of cake.
- Make it change that flight, if you could, to Lisbon, because this is a piece of cake.
Examples
-
Now good news is the pull should be a piece of cake.
-
It's a piece of cake.
-
I mean, what a piece of cake that was.
-
It's gonna be a piece of cake.
-
With such a rich variety of potential markets, one would think that market development would be a piece of cake.
Academic text (1998) -
So school was like a piece of cake for me.
Blog text (3) -
Car insurance will be a piece of cake if you consider these suggestions.
Blog text (32) -
Then, conversations between the two of you will be a piece of cake.
Blog text (3) -
You know, this hasn't been a piece of cake for me, either.
-
The money's right, the client's strictly blue chip, and the job's a piece of cake.
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
55
3.4
An activity that is very easy or pleasant, often used with no to say something is not easy
33
2.1
An easy thing to do
19
3.6
A task that is very easy to do
18
1.2
An easy task that needs little effort
16
2.1
A task that is very easy to do
8
3.4
Easy tasks that give quick results
6
1.0
An activity that is very easy to do
4
1.7
Very easy to do with little skill
1
6.1
A task that is very easy to do
1
3.4
An easy task that you can do without much effort
1
4.4
An easy contest or task that someone wins with little effort
1
2.8
Easy to do and without problems after it starts
1
1.3
A very easy task that needs little effort
1
7.8
An easy task that needs little effort
Very easy to do and understand
Antonyms
How Easy
Surface Forms
Morphology
piece + of + cake
The idiomatic meaning 'very easy' cannot be derived from the literal constituents 'piece' (a portion) and 'cake' (a dessert); a B1 learner who only knows the words would most likely interpret it as a literal portion of cake. Although some languages use food metaphors for ease, the specific English phrasing is idiomatic and unpredictable from its parts, so prior exposure is needed to understand the intended meaning.
Etymology
Piece of cake comes from the idea of a small, easy-to-eat slice of cake that is simple and pleasant to eat. So if something is a piece of cake, it means 'very easy to do'.