Word of the Day Archive
Friday June 25, 2010
cakewalk \KEYK-wawk\
, noun:
1. Something easily accomplished.
2. A 19th-century African-American tradition in which walkers performing the most accomplished or amusing steps won cakes as prizes.
3. The music that accompanies such a competition.
This will be a cakewalk, I tell myself, even though I'm up against a pair of convicted killers.
-- Kurt Streeter, "Tennis is serious sport in San Quentin Prison", Los Angeles Times, May 2010
Though it may be baffling to consider, watching you grow up isn't necessarily a cakewalk for your parents.
-- Melissa Kirsch, The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything
The origin of cakewalk lies in the 19th century African-American tradition where a cake was given as a prize for the fanciest steps in a procession. The phrases "piece of cake" and "take the cake" may derive from the cakewalk.
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for cakewalk
