fritter
1[ frit-er ]
/ ˈfrɪt ər /
verb (used with object)
to squander or disperse piecemeal; waste little by little (usually followed by away): to fritter away one's money; to fritter away an afternoon.
to break or tear into small pieces or shreds.
verb (used without object)
to dwindle, shrink, degenerate, etc. (often followed by away): to watch one's fortune fritter away.
to separate or break into fragments: a plastic material having a tendency to fritter.
noun
a small piece, fragment, or shred.
QUIZZES
CHALLENGE YOURSELF WITH THIS MIDDLE SCHOOL PART OF SPEECH QUIZ!
How well do you know your adjectives from your adverbs? Your preposition from your pronouns? Your interjections from your conjunctions? Let’s put your knowledge of parts of speech to the text!
Note: Many of the following questions will ask you to identify the parts of speech “in order.” That means the first word in all capital letters will correspond to the first option in an answer, and so on.
Question 1 of 10
In order, what parts of speech are the words in all capital letters? Alisa was VERY tired, SO she decided to go to bed.
Origin of fritter
11720–30; earlier fitter, derivative of fit (Old English fitt) a part
OTHER WORDS FROM fritter
frit·ter·er, nounun·frit·tered, adjectiveWords nearby fritter
frith, frithstool, fritillaria, fritillary, frittata, fritter, fritter away, fritto misto, fritz, friuli, friuli-venezia giulia
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
British Dictionary definitions for fritter away (1 of 2)
fritter1
/ (ˈfrɪtə) /
verb (tr)
(usually foll by away) to waste or squanderto fritter away time
to break or tear into small pieces; shred
noun
a small piece; shred
Derived forms of fritter
fritterer, nounWord Origin for fritter
C18: probably from obsolete fitter to break into small pieces, ultimately from Old English fitt a piece
British Dictionary definitions for fritter away (2 of 2)
fritter2
/ (ˈfrɪtə) /
noun
a piece of food, such as apple or clam, that is dipped in batter and fried in deep fat
Word Origin for fritter
C14: from Old French friture, from Latin frictus fried, roasted, from frīgere to fry, parch
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Idioms and Phrases with fritter away
fritter away
Squander or waste little by little; wear down gradually. For example, She frittered away her salary on odds and ends and saved nothing. This expression was first recorded in Alexander Pope's Dunciad (1728): “How prologues into prefaces decay, And these to notes are fritter'd quite away.”
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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