frankfurter

¹ American  

[frangk-fer-ter] / ˈfræŋk fər tər /

Also frankfort,

noun

1. a small, cooked and smoked sausage of beef or beef and pork, with or without casing; hot dog; wiener.

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Frankfurter ² American  

[frangk-fer-ter] / ˈfræŋk fər tər /

noun

1. Felix, 1882–1965, U.S. jurist, born in Austria: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1939–62.

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Frankfurter ¹ British  

/ ˈfræŋkˌfɜːtə /

noun

1. an inhabitant or native of Frankfurt

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frankfurter ² British  

/ ˈfræŋkˌfɜːtə /

noun

1. a light brown smoked sausage, made of finely minced pork or beef, often served in a bread roll

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Etymology

Origin of frankfurter

1890–95, < German: Frankfort sausage; -er ¹

Explanation

A frankfurter is another name for a hot dog. It's the mild sausage served on a bun that you eat while watching a baseball game. Depending where you're from, you might call a frankfurter a frank, a wiener, or a dog. Frankfurters are pink or red sausages made of meat trimmings packed inside a thin, edible casing, and served with mustard, ketchup, or relish. The name, adopted in English during the late 19th century, reflects the German heritage of all variations on the frankfurter — it comes from Frankfurter wurst, "sausage of Frankfurt."

Example Sentences

Delivery to the remote Yosemite National Park post office — as evidenced by what current Yosemite Postmaster Ellen Damin calls “the great frankfurter debacle” — has never been easy.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2025

Step into any Magn or Effo gas station dotting the Faroe Islands, and you’ll likely be behind one or two other people waiting for a frankfurter.

From Salon • Nov. 18, 2024

A proper Chicago dog is an all-beef frankfurter in a poppy seed bun with yellow mustard, sweet pickle relish, chopped white onion, tomato slices, a dill pickle spear, pickled sport peppers and celery salt.

From New York Times • Jul. 25, 2022

The annual Fourth of July frankfurter fest normally happens outside Nathan’s flagship shop in Brooklyn's Coney Island neighborhood.

From Fox News • Jul. 4, 2021

This mother of mine, she stops at another hot-dog vendor’s and buys a frankfurter that she eats on the street.

From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat

Related Words

• hot dog