frisk
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
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a leap, skip, or caper.
-
a frolic or gambol.
-
the act of frisking a person.
verb
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(intr) to leap, move about, or act in a playful manner; frolic
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(tr) (esp of animals) to whisk or wave briskly
the dog frisked its tail
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(tr)
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to search (someone) by feeling for concealed weapons, etc
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to rob by searching in this way
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noun
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a playful antic or movement; frolic
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the act or an instance of frisking a person
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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frisksimple
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friskssimple
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have friskedperfect
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has friskedperfect
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am friskingprogressive
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are friskingprogressive
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is friskingprogressive
-
have been friskingperfect progressive
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has been friskingperfect progressive
Past
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friskedsimple
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had friskedperfect
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was friskingprogressive
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were friskingprogressive
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had been friskingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of frisk
1425–75; late Middle English, as adj. < Middle French frisque, perhaps a spelling variant (with mute s ) of fri ( c ) que lively, smart < Germanic (compare Middle Dutch vrec, Old High German freh avaricious, Middle High German vrech brave, German frech insolent); or < Middle French (Flanders) frisque < Middle Dutch frisc fresh
Explanation
To frisk someone is to search them, usually for weapons. It’s typical for a crime show to portray a police officer frisking a suspect. The purpose of frisking is to find out if someone is carrying a particular kind of item. The person doing the frisking may be looking for weapons or a recording device. Another meaning of frisk is more light-hearted: “to play in an enthusiastic manner.” Kids running around a playground are frisking. If you say there’s frisking going on in a nearby park, you might want to clarify which meaning you’re indicating.
Vocabulary lists containing frisk
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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:
As the officers patted down Flores, the lights on the Nissan blinked — which they assumed was because their frisk had pushed a key fob in Flores’ possession.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2024
He began his career as a lawyer before being elected to the New York state legislature, where he championed affordable housing and worked on policing issues, notably the controversial practice known as "stop and frisk."
From Reuters ● Nov. 18, 2022
“He even wrote his final research paper examining the effectiveness of proactive and reactive policing in reducing crime, discussing the effects of stop and frisk, and community policing in New York City,” she said.
From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2022
The municipality designated the area as a security risk region, giving police the authority to frisk people preventatively.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2022
“Not in a moving vehicle,” the soldier says as he begins to frisk us.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
In one police precinct, Denerstein said, only 41 percent of stops, 32 percent of frisks and 26 percent of searches were lawful.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
Stop and frisks wouldn’t end, but Newark would have to fight crime without the rampant police stops the department had used for years.
From Slate ● Apr. 12, 2021
The trend was also true for stops that led to subsequent police actions like frisks, searches and arrests.
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2020
The landmark case found that the Fourth Amendment is not violated when a police officer stops a suspect on the street and frisks them without probable cause.
From Fox News ● Feb. 11, 2020
During the exit frisks, we’d find waffles stuffed inside pants and shirts.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Police stopped, questioned and frisked those suspected of carrying weapons or casing a business, dissuading the ill-intentioned from packing guns while reducing shootings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
The BBC had seen about 50 police officers around on Sunday morning local time and cars were turned away at entry points, while those entering on foot were frisked by police checking bags.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2023
Altheimer was not arrested, but was detained by officers and frisked for weapons.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2022
In Albany, he teamed up with Eric Adams, the future mayor of New York City, to ban the Police Department from maintaining a database of men its officers had stopped and frisked.
From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
They frisked around for a while, as I watched them from the brush, and trotted away.
From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell
Nearly 39,000 frisking staff had been employed across the country to check for any prohibited items, the NTA said, and there would be 40-50 security personnel stationed at every exam centre.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
The match has been designated a "high-risk" clash, with police enforcing special rules such as preventative frisking.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2025
“So frisking language might be like, ‘Do you have any needles that might hurt me?’
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2023
Yes, the internet of things — our things — is coming alive around us, digitally frisking us as we walk by to see if we’re carrying anything of interest.
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
He cleaned his antennae with his forefeet, frisking and smoothing them so that he looked like a Victorian villain twirling his moustachios.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
