stir-fry
Americanverb (used with object)
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stir-fries,
present (3rd person singular)
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stir-fried,
past participle, past
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stir-frying
present participle
noun
-
stir-fries
plural
adjective
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stir-frysimple
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stir-friessimple
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have stir-friedperfect
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has stir-friedperfect
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am stir-fryingprogressive
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are stir-fryingprogressive
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is stir-fryingprogressive
-
have been stir-fryingperfect progressive
-
has been stir-fryingperfect progressive
Past
-
stir-friedsimple
-
had stir-friedperfect
-
was stir-fryingprogressive
-
were stir-fryingprogressive
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had been stir-fryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stir-fry
First recorded in 1955–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
At one industrial park, companies are developing robots that can stir-fry chicken and brew lattes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Notably, the outdoor kitchen, located on the other side of the indoor kitchen, is a feature the couple uses daily for their stir-fry recipes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2025
Once, in a fit of what I can only describe as kitchen-stage fright, I added rosemary to a stir-fry.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2025
In China, there’s the beloved tomato-egg stir-fry, which is quick, soft-scrambled and just sweet enough to make the dish feel round-edged and soothing.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2025
Safer’s mom watches as Pigeon picks all the chicken out of his stir-fry and pushes it to one side of his plate.
From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead
For the less revolutionary among us, there is plenty more on the table: steamed buns, red meats, preserved vegetables, rice, seasonal stir-fries and delicately-flavoured seafood.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2025
This is something that can be added in braises for extra flavor or thrown on top of stir-fries for crunch.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2023
Instead of growing the plant to maturity, you can grow flavorful baby greens, stalks and shoots to spice up stir-fries, salads, sandwiches and smoothies.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 1, 2023
A stream of stir-fries, soups and sweets appeared at my door just a few miles away; on my phone, a text: “Have you eaten?”
From New York Times ● May 14, 2023
When I walk in the door I can smell the onions frying and I know my dad is making one of his whatever’s-on-the-bottom-shelf-of-the-refrigerator stir-fries.
From "The Misfits" by James Howe
In fact, stir-fried lettuce is a beloved dish in Chinese culture, often eaten for good luck during Lunar New Year.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Hetty Lui McKinnon’s recipe calls for a head of iceberg lettuce, stir-fried, then topped with crispy garlic and a fried egg and served over a warm bowl of rice.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
One idea is to introduce a new Thai dish made with lotus root, stir-fried mushroom and slow-cooked beef.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2024
The line included a woman who gingerly scooped stir-fried Korean glass noodles topped with minced crickets onto her plate, and a man who wouldn't stop grilling the young chef.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2024
I’d rather come back as a sow bug, myself; or a stir-fried shrimp.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
He has a taste for street food, and appears on social media wearing a T-shirt and shorts while stir-frying with a wok, or performing 1980s Thai pop on the saxophone or piano.
From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026
Pan-frying was highest, followed by stir-frying, then deep-frying.
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2025
In the experiments the researchers cooked chicken breast using five different methods: pan frying, stir-frying, deep-fat frying, boiling and air-frying, in a well-controlled research kitchen.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 26, 2024
Retail investor Helen Wu is not bashful talking about "stir-frying" - the practice of pumping up stocks with hot concepts.
From Reuters ● Nov. 1, 2023
The dish has a smoky flavor produced by stir-frying in a very hot wok.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2022
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