fritz

¹ American  

[frits] / frɪts /

verb phrase

1. fritz out to become inoperable.

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idioms

1. on the fritz, not in working order.

   Our TV went on the fritz last night.

Fritz ² American  

[frits] / frɪts /

noun

1. Older Slang: Sometimes Offensive. a German, especially a German soldier.

2. a male given name.

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fritz More Idioms  

1. see on the blink (fritz).

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Sensitive Note

Fritz was a nickname used by Allied soldiers for a German soldier during World War I and II.

Etymology

Origin of fritz¹

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; of obscure origin

Origin of Fritz²

1910–15; < German; common nickname for Friedrich

Example Sentences

John Fritz was 10 when he and his family fled to a remote cabin to wait out the crisis.

From The Wall Street Journal

In the early 1930s, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky noticed that many galaxies were moving far faster than their visible mass should permit.

From Science Daily

From Fritz Lang’s German Expressionist “Metropolis” to “Wall Street” in the 1980s and 2011’s “Horrible Bosses,” offices, factories and other worksites have often been the setting—indeed, a main character—in the movie canon.

From The Wall Street Journal

Inherited retirement assets under the Secure 2.0 Act are fairly complex, says Neil V. Carbone, trusts-and-estates partner at law firm Farrell Fritz.

From MarketWatch

Instead, he sketched and painted throughout the Virgin Islands and in Venezuela, at times with a Danish artist named Fritz Melbye.

From The Wall Street Journal