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Glite Dictionary
to have a bun in the oven

to have a bun in the oven

1 8.4
To be pregnant and expecting a baby
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : estar embarazada
  • - Oh I see someone else who has a bun in the oven?

Examples

  • She announced that she would have a bun in the oven at the family dinner.

  • Because someone told them that you don't really have a bun in the oven.

    Fly Me to the Moon (2024)

  • If one of them has a bun in the oven, you'll be the first to know.

    Blog text (24)

  • If everything goes as planned, I hope to have a bun in the oven by Dec: )

    Blog text (1)

  • I think I might have a bun in the oven after feeling these unusual symptoms.

  • After all the excitement, I can finally say I have a bun in the oven!

Synonyms

to expect
vsto have a bun in the oven
816 3.0

To carry a baby before birth

is more informal and metaphorical rather than neutral
to carry
vsto have a bun in the oven
290 4.4

Be pregnant with a child or young animal

is informal and metaphorical instead of neutral physical wording
to gestate
vsto have a bun in the oven
  • Specialized
4 7.6

To carry a baby in the womb until birth

is informal everyday speech rather than technical biological term
in the family way
vsto have a bun in the oven
  • Archaic
2 8.4

A woman who is pregnant

is more casual and less formal than that euphemism
preggers
vsto have a bun in the oven
  • Slang
1 9.4

Having a baby growing inside you

is informal but uses a vivid food metaphor
up the duff
vsto have a bun in the oven
  • Slang
1 9.9

A woman who is expecting a baby

is informal and more playful metaphorically
in the pudding club
vsto have a bun in the oven
  • Archaic
9.9

Pregnant and expecting a baby

is informal idiom like a playful phrase about food

Antonyms

unpregnant
1 6.3

Not carrying a baby inside the body

Surface Forms

have a bun in the oven infinitive
had a bun in the oven past
had a bun in the oven past participle
having a bun in the oven present participle
has a bun in the oven third person singular

Morphology

have + a + bun + in + the + oven

The phrase uses a culturally specific baking metaphor whose literal parts ('bun', 'oven') do not indicate pregnancy; a B1 learner who knows the words would not reliably infer 'to be pregnant' from the constituents. This is an idiomatic expression whose meaning must be learned as a whole rather than composed from its parts.

Etymology

The saying have a bun in the oven comes from the image of baking: a small bun growing inside a warm oven. One popular story says people compared a baby in the mother's belly to a bun baking, so the phrase came to mean 'to be pregnant'.