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cocer

to cook

verb koh-SEHR Rare
Food & Drink Cooking

Also means

to boil

Usage Note

Cocer specifically means cooking by heat in liquid — boiling or simmering — rather than general cooking (which is cocinar). It is a stem-changing verb: cuezo, cueces, cuece (o→ue). The past participle cocido gives its name to the classic Spanish stew cocido madrileño. Cocer can also mean to fire ceramics (cocer en horno), so context matters.

Examples

"Hay que cocer las patatas veinte minutos."

Natural Translation

You need to boil the potatoes for twenty minutes.

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