frank

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Open and sincere in expression; straightforward: made several frank remarks about the quality of their work.
2. adj. Clearly manifest; evident: frank enjoyment.
3. v. To put an official mark on (a piece of mail) so that it can be sent free of charge.
4. v. To send (mail) free of charge.
5. v. To place a stamp or mark on (a piece of mail) to show the payment of postage.
6. v. To enable (a person) to come and go freely.
7. n. A mark or signature placed on a piece of mail to indicate the right to send it free of charge.
8. n. The right to send mail free.
9. n. A franked piece of mail.
10. n. Informal A frankfurter.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A member of a body of Germanic tribes which coalesced under this name in the third century, and afterward separated into three groups, the Chatti, the Ripuarian Franks, and the Salian or Salic Franks. The Ripuarians dwelt along the Rhine, near Cologne. The Salians occupied the country on the lower Rhine, and in the fifth century, under Clovis. overthrew the Roman power in Gaul, founded the Merovingian Frankish monarchy, and gave origin to the name France.
2. n. [A readoption of the Oriental form of European name Frank, originating at the time of the crusades, when the Franks that is, the French, and by extension the other nations of western Europe) became familiar to the Turks, Arabs, etc. See Feringee.] A European of the western nations: a common designation among the Turks, Arabs, and other Oriental peoples for any western foreigner.
3. Free; open; unrestrained; unconditioned.
4. Liberal; generous; not niggardly.
5. Free from disguise or concealment; candid in utterance; sincere and unreserved in manner: as, a frank disposition; a frank avowal.
6. Freely disclosed; clearly manifest; undisguised; indubitable: as, frank ignorance or poverty.
7. Unrestrained; using free license.
8. Synonyms Open, Ingenuous, etc. (see candid); plain, unreserved, undisguised.
9. To send or cause to be sent by public conveyance free of expense: as, to frank a letter. The privilege of franking their own letters through the post, by indorsing their names on them, and also of giving franks to their friends, belonged to the members of the British Parliament from about 1600 till 1840, when it was abolished on the establishment of penny postage. The practically unlimited franking privilege formerly enjoyed by members of the United States Congress and many officers of government was abolished in 1873; but provision was afterward made for the free transmission of mail-matter relating to official business, by the use of special envelops, etc.
10. Hence To facilitate the passage or movements of; give the right of way to, as a traveler.
11. In carpentry, to form the joint of, as that of a window-sash where the crosspieces of the frame intersect each other, by cutting away no more wood than is sufficient to show a miter.
12. n. The signature or indorsement of a person holding the privilege of franking mail-matter, written or impressed on the wrapper in token of the right of the inclosure to pass free.
13. n. A letter thus indorsed, sent by mail free of postage.
14. n. A pigsty; a pen for fattening boars.
15. Sty-fed. See I.
16. To shut up in a frank or sty: usually with up.
17. To feed; cram; fatten.
18. n. A former spelling of franc.
19. n. A name of the heron, Ardea cinerea.

Wiktionary

1. adj. honest, especially in an manner that seems slightly blunt.
2. n. uncountable Free postage, a right exercised by governments (usually with definite article).
3. n. countable The notice on an envelope where a stamp would normally be found.
4. v. To place a frank on an envelope.
5. n. A hot dog or sausage.
6. n. UK the grey heron.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. obsolete A pigsty.
2. v. obsolete To shut up in a frank or sty; to pen up; hence, to cram; to fatten.
3. n. (Zoöl.), Prov. Eng. The common heron; -- so called from its note.
4. adj. rare Unbounded by restrictions, limitations, etc.; free.
5. adj. Free in uttering one's real sentiments; not reserved; using no disguise; candid; ingenuous.
6. adj. obsolete Liberal; generous; profuse.
7. adj. Unrestrained; loose; licentious; -- used in a bad sense.
8. v. To send by public conveyance free of expense.
9. v. To extempt from charge for postage, as a letter, package, or packet, etc.
10. n. The privilege of sending letters or other mail matter, free of postage, or without charge; also, the sign, mark, or signature denoting that a letter or other mail matter is to go free of postage. Called also the franking privilege.
11. n. (Ethnol.) A member of one of the German tribes that in the fifth century overran and conquered Gaul, and established the kingdom of France.
12. n. A native or inhabitant of Western Europe; a European; -- a term used in the Levant.
13. n. A French coin. See Franc.

WordNet 3.0

1. adj. clearly manifest; evident.
2. n. a smooth-textured sausage of minced beef or pork usually smoked; often served on a bread roll
3. v. exempt by means of an official pass or letter, as from customs or other checks
4. v. stamp with a postmark to indicate date and time of mailing
5. adj. characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
6. n. a member of the ancient Germanic peoples who spread from the Rhine into the Roman Empire in the 4th century