cooking with gas

phrase

Functioning particularly effectively; achieving something substantial.

“With the updated software, I was really cooking with gas. I got the project done in half the time.”

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

phrase

alternative cooking on gas

  1. idiomaticinformalFunctioning particularly effectively; achieving something substantial.

    With the updated software, I was really cooking with gas. I got the project done in half the time.

    1 more example

    She said, 'What are you doing? Tell me, I want to know.' The blind man said, 'We're drawing a cathedral. Me and him are working on it. Press hard,' he said to me. 'That's right. That's good,' he said. 'Sure. You got it, bub. I can tell. You didn't think you could. But you can, can't you? You're cooking with gas now. You know what I'm saying? We're really going to have us something here in a minute. How's the old arm?' he said. 'Put some people in there now. What's a cathedral without people?'

    1983, Raymond Carver, Cathedral (short story)
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cook, with, gas.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
on the boil

Origin

Natural gas has been used as a fuel for cooking since at least the 19th century when the petroleum industry came into being and new products and markets were developed. The idiomatic phrase entered the popular lexicon as part of an advertising slogan in late 1930s or early 1940s, for American Gas Association. The slogan "Now you're cooking with gas!" was coined by Deke Houlgate, an employee of AGA, who worked with Bob Hope to insert the phrase into his comedy routines as subtle product placement. The initial idea was to compete with the increasing popularity of electric stoves in the 1930s. However by 1940 it came to have a broader idiomatic usage and figurative meaning because of the way it was used by Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Jack Benny and even a Daffy Duck cartoon, eclipsing its original intent as advertising. The slogan was repeated throughout the 1941-1942 radio season by many radio stars.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

cooking with gas. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cooking%20with%20gas

MLA

“cooking with gas.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cooking%20with%20gas. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cooking with gas,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cooking%20with%20gas.

Source: cooking with gas on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.