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Glite Dictionary
to disappear like hot cakes

to disappear like hot cakes

5.5
To sell very quickly in large numbers
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : desaparecer como pan caliente
  • As soon as the concert tickets went on sale, they disappeared like hot cakes.

Examples

  • The limited-edition sneakers disappeared like hot cakes as soon as they were released.

  • All the freshly baked bread disappeared like hot cakes from the bakery shelves.

  • Those cookies disappeared like hot cakes at the party!

  • The new iPhone disappeared like hot cakes last week.

  • All the freshly baked bread disappeared like hot cakes from the bakery shelves.

  • As soon as the concert tickets went on sale, they disappeared like hot cakes.

  • The limited-edition sneakers disappeared like hot cakes as soon as they were released.

Synonyms

to fly off the shelf
vsto disappear like hot cakes
7 3.9

To sell very quickly because many people want it

focuses on rapid selling in large quantities rather than sudden popularity
to sell like hot cakes
vsto disappear like hot cakes
  • Informal
1 3.3

To be bought quickly by many people

is the same meaning but uses different phrasing

Antonyms

to remain
∞ 1.0

To stay in the same place or state and not change

to linger
207 3.7

To stay in a place longer than expected because you do not want to leave

How Fast

to disappear like hot cakes
  • Informal
5.5
to sell out
65 2.8
to sell off
57 3.5
steadily
129 2.1

Surface Forms

disappear like hot cakes infinitive
disappearing like hot cakes present participle
disappears like hot cakes third person singular
disappeared like hot cakes past
disappeared like hot cakes past participle

Morphology

disappear + like + hot + cake

The literal parts ('disappear' + 'like' + 'hot cakes') allow a learner to infer that something vanishes quickly, so the basic idea of rapid disappearance is reasonably accessible. However, the specific commercial sense of 'being sold or taken very quickly and in large quantities' (the idiomatic use of 'like hot cakes') is culturally conventional and not fully predictable from the words alone, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The idiom disappear like hot cakes comes from market stalls where hot cakes, or warm pancakes, were so popular that people bought them right away. They were sold almost as soon as they were made and seemed to be gone, so the phrase now means 'to be sold or taken very quickly'.