hoecake

H4O1E1C3A1K5E1

noun

A type of cornbread or cornmeal cake, made with water and salt. It was originally baked before the fire or in the ashes on a type of iron pan called a hoe; in modern times, it is fried in cooking oil in a skillet.

“In Jean Fritz's children's book George Washington's Breakfast, the protagonist finds out that George Washington may have eaten hoecakes for breakfast.”

Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nounhoecake (plural hoecakes)

plural hoecakes

  1. Southern USdatedA type of cornbread or cornmeal cake, made with water and salt. It was originally baked before the fire or in the ashes on a type of iron pan called a hoe; in modern times, it is fried in cooking oil in a skillet.

    In Jean Fritz's children's book George Washington's Breakfast, the protagonist finds out that George Washington may have eaten hoecakes for breakfast.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
johnnycake

Origin

From hoe + cake, since it was often cooked on a hoe (a type of pan, not the gardening implement).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

hoecake. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hoecake

MLA

“hoecake.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hoecake. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hoecake,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hoecake.

Source: hoecake on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.