stir-fry

American  

[stur-frahy] / ˈstɜrˌfraɪ /

verb (used with object)

• stir-fries,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stir-fried,
  past participle,  past
• stir-frying
  present participle

1. to cook (food) quickly by cutting into small pieces and stirring constantly in a lightly oiled wok or frying pan over high heat: a common method of Chinese cooking.

   Stir-fry the shrimp until it is cooked, then add the rice and egg mixture.

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noun

• stir-fries
  plural

1. a dish of meat, vegetables, etc., that have been cooked over a high heat in a lightly oiled wok or frying pan.

   A stir-fry with chicken and vegetables is an easy weeknight meal.

adjective

1. cooked in a lightly oiled wok or frying pan over high heat; stir-fried.

   This spice blend is made to taste great on all kinds of stir-fry dishes.

stir-fry British  

/ ˈstɜːˈfraɪ /

verb

1. to cook (small pieces of meat, vegetables, etc) rapidly by stirring them in a wok or frying pan over a high heat: used esp for Chinese food

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noun

1. a dish cooked in this way

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stir-fries
  plural

Participles

• stir-frying
  present
• stir-fried
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• stir-fry
  simple
• stir-fries
  simple
• have stir-fried
  perfect
• has stir-fried
  perfect
• am stir-frying
  progressive
• are stir-frying
  progressive
• is stir-frying
  progressive
• have been stir-frying
  perfect progressive
• has been stir-frying
  perfect progressive

Past

• stir-fried
  simple
• had stir-fried
  perfect
• was stir-frying
  progressive
• were stir-frying
  progressive
• had been stir-frying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will stir-fry
  simple
• will have stir-fried
  perfect
• will be stir-frying
  progressive
• will have been stir-frying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of stir-fry

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stir-fry stir-fries stir-fried stir-frying

At one industrial park, companies are developing robots that can stir-fry chicken and brew lattes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026

There’s Chinese tomato egg stir-fry, which is topped with fresh scallions and served alongside a steaming bowl of rice.

From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2026

Tossed into a quick stir-fry with whatever protein you’ve got.

From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026

Or a stir-fry streaked with carrots, peas, more red cabbage and glossy peppers catching the light.

From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026

My forkful of chicken stir-fry froze halfway to my mouth.

From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence

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

Harvest early or look for baby leaves at the farmers' market to ensure it's mild enough to eat raw; the mature leaves are generally cooked or processed before eating, in stir-fries, stews, braises or pickles.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 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

“It’s great stirred into pasta sauces. It’s great in stir-fries to make it spicy. It’s great in salad dressing. It’s great in butter compounds. It’s just that completely giving ingredient that you cannot stop using.”

From Washington Post ● Sep. 6, 2022

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

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

I like to enjoy my noods in soup form, but you can also follow this step-by-step process for stir-fried noodles.

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 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

Next to it was a plate of chilli crickets, the bug version of a beloved Singaporean dish - stir-fried mud crabs doused in a rich, sweet chilli sauce.

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

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

During their time in Cuba, these Chinese laborers cooked with local rice options such as Valencian short-grain and long-grain white rice, along with other Cuban essential ingredients, using the Chinese method of stir-frying.

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2021