fritter
verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L331776 on Wikidata ↗noun
- fried pastry
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈfɹɪtə(ɹ)/ / /ˈfɹɪtɚ/ / [ˈfɹɪɾɚ]
noun
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English fryture, from Middle French friture, from Old French friture, from Vulgar Latin *frīctūra, from Latin frīgō (“to fry”); compare fry. For the development of Middle English /iu̯r(ə)/ into /ə(ɹ)/, compare armour, batter, border, solder.
- A dish made by deep-frying food coated in batter.
- A fragment; a shred; a small piece.
“And cut whole giants into fritters.”
verb
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English fryture, from Middle French friture, from Old French friture, from Vulgar Latin *frīctūra, from Latin frīgō (“to fry”); compare fry. For the development of Middle English /iu̯r(ə)/ into /ə(ɹ)/, compare armour, batter, border, solder.
- To squander or waste time, money, or other resources; e.g. occupy oneself idly or without clear purpose, to tinker with an unimportant part of a project, to dally, sometimes as a form of procrastination.
“I was supposed to do work, but I frittered around all afternoon.”
“He can’t figure out how to finish the paper he’s writing, so he’s resorted to frittering with the fonts.”
- To sinter.
- To cut (meat etc.) into small pieces for frying.
- To break into small pieces or fragments.
“Break all nerves, and fritter all their sense.”