French

1
[ french ]

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of France or its inhabitants, language, or culture: French cooking.

noun
  1. (used with a plural verb) the people of France collectively: Philosophies advanced by the French during the Age of Reason profoundly influenced the American Founding Fathers.

  2. a Romance language spoken in France, parts of Belgium and Switzerland, and in areas colonized after 1500 by France. Abbreviations: F, Fr.

verb (used with object)
  1. (often lowercase) to prepare (food) according to a French method.

  2. (often lowercase) to cut (snap beans) into slivers or thin strips before cooking.

  1. (often lowercase) to trim the meat from the end of (a rib chop or chicken breast with attached wing): For this recipe, the chops on the rack of lamb are Frenched about an inch. To french a chicken breast, scrape down the meat on the wing to expose the bone.

  2. (often lowercase) to prepare (meat) for cooking by slicing it into strips and pounding.

  3. Slang. to short-sheet (a bed).

  4. (often lowercase)Slang. to give (someone) a French kiss: Her parents found her frenching her boyfriend on the porch swing after curfew.

  5. (often lowercase)Slang: Vulgar. to perform fellatio or cunnilingus on.

Idioms about French

  1. excuse / pardon one's French, (used to excuse or apologize for the use of vulgarity): Pardon my French—I didn’t realize there were ladies present.

Origin of French

1
First recorded before 1150; Middle English Frennsce, Frensh, French, from Old English Frencisc; see origin at Frank, -ish1

Other words from French

  • Frenchness, noun

Words Nearby French

Other definitions for French (2 of 2)

French2
[ french ]

noun
  1. Alice "Octave Thanet", 1850–1934, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.

  2. Daniel Chester, 1850–1931, U.S. sculptor.

  1. Sir John Den·ton Pink·stone [den-tn -pingk-stohn, -stuhn], /ˈdɛn tn ˈpɪŋk stoʊn, -stən/, 1st Earl of Ypres, 1852–1925, English field marshal in World War I.

  2. Marilyn, 1929–2009, U.S. novelist and nonfiction writer.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use French in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for French (1 of 2)

French1

/ (frɛntʃ) /


noun
  1. the official language of France: also an official language of Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, and certain other countries. It is the native language of approximately 70 million people; also used for diplomacy. Historically, French is an Indo-European language belonging to the Romance group: See also Old French, Anglo-French

  2. the French (functioning as plural) the natives, citizens, or inhabitants of France collectively

adjective
  1. relating to, denoting, or characteristic of France, the French, or their language: Related prefixes: Franco-, Gallo-

  2. (in Canada) of or relating to French Canadians

Origin of French

1
Old English Frencisc French, Frankish; see Frank

Derived forms of French

  • Frenchness, noun

British Dictionary definitions for French (2 of 2)

French2

/ (frɛntʃ) /


noun
  1. Sir John Denton Pinkstone, 1st Earl of Ypres. 1852–1925, British field marshal in World War I: commanded the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium (1914–15); Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1918–21)

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