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• fry
  fry

  verb (used with object)

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

  noun

  Christopher, 1907–2005, English playwright.

fry

¹ American  

[frahy] / fraɪ /

verb (used with object)

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

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)

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

1. to undergo cooking in fat or oil.

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

noun

• fries
  plural

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

• fry,
  plural,  plural
• fries
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• fryable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fries
  plural
• fry
  plural

Participles

• frying
  present
• fried
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

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

Past

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

Future

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

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”

Explanation

To fry food is to cook it in very hot oil until it's crispy. For breakfast, you could fry yourself an egg, and maybe fry some bacon to go with it. You can stir fry vegetables and deep fry doughnuts — and you have to be careful on a hot summer day not to (figuratively) fry yourself in the sun. When fry is a noun, it's usually short for "French fry," but it also means youngster, or "small fry." This less common meaning comes from Scottish, possibly from the Old Norse root frjo, "offspring."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fry Fry fries fried frying

"I've also got a big shipment of herring which is a wonderful and a very traditional Shetland fish to fry."

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

Salmon also suffered, partly because drought had affected inland rivers, where Chinook and Coho migrate to spawn, eggs hatch, and salmon fry swim back downstream to the ocean.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

“You think that Alex Jones gorged himself on Whataburger? You’re saying five triple cheeseburgers and how many fry boxes?”

From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026

Whenever Celenza has a leftover vegetable, his go-to is usually a frittata or a stir fry.

From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026

I said, popping a french fry in my mouth as I watched them.

From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio

Much of that debt was for housing, which historically had been “the way that low- and moderate-income American households built wealth,” said Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew Research Center.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

She faced a crowded field including congressmen Ralph Norman and Russell Fry and former governor Mark Sanford, with a runoff later this month if no candidate reaches 50 percent.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

The conventional wisdom is that Darline Graham will likely make the runoff and then the second spot will be a competition between Fry and Norman.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

“We’re learning that there’s more momentum in the economy: It keeps growing at 2% no matter what you throw at it, and inflation stays elevated,” said Robert Fry, a Delaware-based independent economic consultant.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

At the far end of the gym was a big glass trophy case, filled with plaques and medals and glossy golden cups commemorating Fry High achievements in sports and academics over the years.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles

The French onion soup arrives deeply savory beneath a cap of melted cheese, while the steak frites pairs a grilled bavette steak with crisp shoestring fries and rich béarnaise.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

I don’t eat meat, so I’ll do a beer, French fries with “truffle,” shrimp tacos and maybe some candy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Munching on French fries in a West Hollywood restaurant, the two displayed a palpable warmth toward each other that mirrored their onscreen relationship.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Steak ’n Shake began giving extra fries to Tesla drivers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

We went to the food court and she ordered cheese fries, chicken nuggets and a salad.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Served on corn tortillas with diced onions and cilantro, the pork is juicy but fried until crisp around the edges and packed with flavor.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

In Italy, zucchini is among the fried goodies that often start a meal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

One of the boys also hands over a Mars Bar to be deep fried - a Scottish chippy delicacy.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

Thai food greeted Navarrete at the office — red curry, fried rice, drunken noodles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

For now, I’d enjoy the hot sun, a freshly fried funnel cake, and the warm feeling of having a friend and a whole lot of people to count on.

From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry

If you heat up food—by frying it in a pan, for example—it will usually form some amount of acrylamide without adding any other ingredients at all.

From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026

"It's like he's being taken out of the frying pan and into the fryer," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

It appeared as cooking oil, frying fat, shortening, salad dressing, mayonnaise and an inconspicuous ingredient in packaged foods.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

But luckily, we’re not deep frying in this recipe—only an inch or so of oil is needed to turn lightly battered, julienned zucchini into crispy fries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Big bite after big bite, while the two of them return to staring at dead birds in a frying pan.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

Related Words

• sauté