like hot cakes
2
4.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
como pan caliente
- This stuff sells like hot cakes!
- sold like hot cakes
- go like hot cakes
Examples
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Mirrorless FF will sell like hot cakes.
Blog text (7) -
For example, anything that helps people with SEO (get traffic, build links) sells like hot cakes, so all you would need to do is have a look at the top-selling apps from the last few weeks, and you are going to get a ton of ideas.
Blog text (20) -
Both sold like hot cakes for months.
Blog text (24) -
Adventure, sex... you put that in your book, it'll sell like hot cakes.
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They're handing them out like hot cakes.
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I'm a self-published author whose books are selling like hot cakes.
Blog text (5) -
Even back in 2010, when HTC was selling like hot cakes, they were having problems sourcing components.
Blog text (27) -
This is especially true for powerful mobile phones that support app use and installation, such as smartphones and iPhones, which sell like hot cakes today.
Blog text (34) -
Inside, Linda Lovelace had sold only 600 copies before the trial, but 600,000 sold like hot cakes within a fortnight of the verdict.
Academic text (2010) -
These new smartphones are selling like hot cakes since they are very affordable.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
At a fast speed or without delay
446
1.4
In a very short time
13
3.5
Very quickly without delay
7
3.9
To sell very quickly because many people want it
1
3.3
To be bought quickly by many people
1
7.2
Many people buy it very quickly
Antonyms
How Fast
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal words 'like' + 'hot' + 'cakes' create an image of something selling while hot, but the commercial sense 'sell very quickly or in large quantities' depends on a metaphorical extension (hot = in demand) rather than strict compositionality. Because the elements give a plausible but not fully predictable clue and many languages have similar food-selling metaphors, a B1 learner might infer the general idea but not reliably without prior exposure.
Etymology
The idiom like hot cakes comes from the image of fresh, hot cakes or pancakes at a market being bought as soon as they were ready. So it now means 'very quickly' or 'in large quantities'.