Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To cook over direct heat in hot oil or fat.
- v. Slang To destroy (electronic circuitry) with excessive heat or current: "a power surge to the computer that fried a number of sensitive electronic components” ( Erik Sandberg-Diment).
- v. To be cooked in a pan over direct heat in hot oil or fat.
- v. Slang To undergo execution in an electric chair.
- n. A French fry. Often used in the plural.
- n. A dish of a fried food.
- n. A social gathering at which food is fried and eaten: a fish fry.
- n. Small fish, especially young, recently hatched fish.
- n. The young of certain other animals.
- n. Individuals, especially young or insignificant persons: "These pampered public school boys . . . had managed to evade the long prison sentences that lesser fry were serving” ( Noel Annan).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To dress by heating or roasting with fat in a pan over a fire; cook and prepare for eating in a frying-pan: as, to fry meat or vegetables.
- Figuratively, to vex; agitate.
- To heat; parch; render torrid.
- To be subjected to heat in a pan containing fat over a fire; hence, to suffer a frying effect from great heat; simmer as if in bubbling fat.
- To ferment, as in the stomach, or, figuratively, in the mind; undergo a seething process.
- To be agitated; boil.
- n. That which is fried; a dish of anything fried.
- n. A state of mental ferment or agitation: as, he keeps himself in a constant fry.
- n. Seed; offspring: especially with reference to human beings.
- n. A swarm, as of children or any small animals, now specifically of little fishes; a number of small or insignificant objects: often used in contempt.
- n. In particular The young of the salmon or of trout at a certain stage of their development.
- n. A kind of sieve.
- n. A drain.
- n. Any small edible fishes, as those of the family Engraulidæ, the anchovies, and certain fishes of the family Clupeidæ, as the sardines, and of the family Atherinidæ.
- n. The roe of fishes, especially that of such fishes as are used for food.
Wiktionary
- v. To cook (something) in hot fat.
- v. To cook in hot fat.
- v. To suffer because of too much heat.
- v. To be executed by the electric chair.
- v. To destroy (something-usually electronic) with excessive heat, voltage, or current.
- n. (mainly Canada and US) A fried potato.
- n. A meal of fried sausages, bacon, eggs, etc.
- n. Young fish.
- n. A swarm, especially of something small (a fry of children).
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To cook in a pan or on a griddle (esp. with the use of fat, butter, or olive oil) by heating over a fire; to cook in boiling lard or fat
- v. To undergo the process of frying; to be subject to the action of heat in a frying pan, or on a griddle, or in a kettle of hot fat.
- v. To simmer; to boil.
- v. To undergo or cause a disturbing action accompanied with a sensation of heat.
- v. To be agitated; to be greatly moved.
- n. A dish of anything fried.
- n. A state of excitement.
- n. The young of any fish.
- n. A swarm or crowd, especially of little fishes; young or small things in general.
WordNet 3.0
- v. be excessively hot
- v. kill by electrocution, as in the electric chair
- n. English dramatist noted for his comic verse dramas (born 1907)
- n. a young person of either sex
- v. cook on a hot surface using fat
- n. English painter and art critic (1866-1934)
Etymologies
- Middle English frien, from Old French frire, from Latin frīgere.Middle English fri, probably from Anglo-Norman frie, from frier, to rub, from Latin fricāre.
Examples
“The fact that no pictures were taken and that no parts of the fish ever survived the fish fry is telling as well.”
“The little fry is king at GDC, and most of the panels, talks, and chatter are revolving around the worlds of iPhone, Xbox Live, and online-only games.”
The Game Developers Conference: Michael Jackson, Free Droids, and iPhones in Ghana « PubliCola
“Oh and I agree that a lady who can one-hand turkey fry is hot.”
“Yeah this stir fry is something which even I make quick and easy.”
“I've been in the mood for noodles and a quick stir fry is just the thing.”
“I feel that the top Indian bloggers such as the ones I've mentioned have a bit of an attitude — they feel superior because they've been doing it so long, and are not as open to what they perceive to be small fry from the Caribbean.”
Global Voices in English » Talking to Indian-Jamaican writer and blogger Annie Paul
“The pressure fry is what makes the Chik-Fil-A sandwich the absolute BOMB.”
“The magical addition to this simple chard-mushroom stir-fry is the Kerala-style garam masala that is added at the end of cooking.”
“I did love meeting you at the brain fry that was BlogHer.”
“Actually, I think — again, if you look at the original post — that one of the biggest fish to fry is how we construct gender in this country.”
Breaking Up Is Not BreakingAway: The Pseudo-Empowerment of Kelly Clarkson | PopPolitics.com

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