fry

¹ American  

[frahy] / fraɪ /

verb (used with object)

fried, frying

1. to cook in a pan or on a griddle over direct heat, usually in fat or oil.

2. Slang. to execute by electrocution in an electric chair.

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verb (used without object)

fried, frying

1. to undergo cooking in fat or oil.

2. Slang. to die by electrocution in an electric chair.

noun

plural

fries

1. a dish of something fried.

2. a piece of french-fried potato.

3. a party or gathering at which the chief food is fried, frequently outdoors.

   a fish fry.

fry ² American  

[frahy] / fraɪ /

noun

plural

fry, fry, fries

1. a young fish.

   a salmon fry.

2. a young animal of certain other kinds, as frogs and oysters.

3. a person, especially a young or unimportant one.

   The prime minister had to bank on the cooperation of lesser fry.

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Fry ³ American  

[frahy] / fraɪ /

noun

1. Christopher, 1907–2005, English playwright.

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fry ¹ British  

/ fraɪ /

verb

1. to cook or be cooked in fat, oil, etc, usually over direct heat

2. informal (intr) to be excessively hot

3. slang to kill or be killed by electrocution, esp in the electric chair

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noun

1. a dish of something fried, esp the offal of a specified animal

   pig's fry

2. a social occasion, often outdoors, at which the chief food is fried

3. informal the act of preparing a mixed fried dish or the dish itself

Fry ² British  

/ fraɪ /

noun

1. Christopher . 1907–2005, English dramatist; author of the verse dramas A Phoenix Too Frequent (1946), The Lady's Not For Burning (1948), and Venus Observed (1950)

2. Elizabeth . 1780–1845, English prison reformer and Quaker

3. Roger Eliot . 1866–1934, English art critic and painter who helped to introduce the postimpressionists to Britain. His books include Vision and Design (1920) and Cézanne (1927)

4. Stephen ( John ). born 1957, British writer, actor, and comedian; his novels include The Liar (1991) and The Stars' Tennis Balls (2000)

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fry ³ British  

/ fraɪ /

plural noun

1. the young of various species of fish

2. the young of certain other animals, such as frogs

3. young children See also small fry

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Other Word Forms

• fryable adjective

Etymology

Origin of fry¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; 1925–30 fry ¹ for def. 2; Middle English frien, from Anglo-French, Old French frire, from Latin frīgere “to roast”

Origin of fry²

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English frie, fry “seed, descendant,” perhaps from Old Norse frjō “seed”; cognate with Swedish frö, Gothic fraiw “seed”

Example Sentences

I ordered a stir fry of crab and broken rice with greens and yam that came topped with a fried soft-shell crab drizzled with shito, a Ghanaian chili sauce.

From The Wall Street Journal

“She doesn’t want fries and chicken nuggets; she wants tropical shrimp tempura,” Escobar said.

From The Wall Street Journal

You get a milkshake or you get some fries, but it’s open for 24 hours.

From Los Angeles Times

The level of detail even extended to whether the comics would share fries from a single plate or have their own.

From Los Angeles Times

Wind farms off the coast of Scotland are far from customers in the populated south, and leaving them constantly on risks frying the grid.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• sauté