A pancake is a flat, round cake made from batter and cooked on a hot griddle or pan. The batter, made from flour, eggs, milk, and a little baking powder, gets poured onto the heated surface where it bubbles and turns golden brown. When those bubbles pop and leave little holes, you know it's time to flip it over with a spatula.

Pancakes are a breakfast favorite in America, often served stacked high and topped with butter and maple syrup. Different cultures make similar foods: the French make thin crêpes, the Russians make blini, and the Japanese make thick, fluffy pancakes that jiggle. Some families have special pancake traditions, like making them into fun shapes or adding blueberries or chocolate chips to the batter.

The word also describes something completely flat. When an object gets squashed totally flat, you might say it's been pancaked. In football, a player who gets tackled hard might get pancaked by a defender. In gymnastics or parkour, a pancake landing means landing flat on your back or stomach, which definitely doesn't feel as good as eating an actual pancake.