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Fritter - 9 dictionary results

frit⋅ter

1  [frit-er]
Use Fritter in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to squander or disperse piecemeal; waste little by little (usually fol. by away): to fritter away one's money; to fritter away an afternoon.
2. to break or tear into small pieces or shreds.
–verb (used without object)
3. to dwindle, shrink, degenerate, etc. (often fol. by away): to watch one's fortune fritter away.
4. to separate or break into fragments: a plastic material having a tendency to fritter.
–noun
5. a small piece, fragment, or shred.
Origin:
1720–30; earlier fitter, deriv. of fit (OE fitt) a part

Related forms:
frit⋅ter⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. dissipate, frivol away, idle away.

frit⋅ter

2  [frit-er]
–noun
a small cake of batter, sometimes containing corn, fruit, clams, or some other ingredient, fried in deep fat or sautéed.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME friture, frytour < OF friture < LL frīctūra a frying, equiv. to L frict(us), ptp. of frīgere to fry + -ūra -ure
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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frit·ter 1   (frĭt'ər)   
tr.v.   frit·tered, frit·ter·ing, frit·ters
  1. To reduce or squander little by little: frittered his inheritance away. See Synonyms at waste.
  2. To break, tear, or cut into bits; shred.

[Probably from fritter, fragment, probably alteration of fitters, from fitter, to break into small pieces.]
frit·ter 2   (frĭt'ər)   
n.  A small cake made of batter, often containing fruit, vegetables, or fish, sautéed or deep-fried.

[Middle English friture, from Old French, from Late Latin frīctūra, from Latin frīctus, past participle of frīgere, to roast, fry.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fritter

Frit"ter\, n. [OR. fritour, friture, pancake, F. friture frying, a thing fried, from frire to fry. See Far, v. t.]

1. A small quantity of batter, fried in boiling lard or in a frying pan. Fritters are of various kinds, named from the substance inclosed in the batter; as, apple fritters, clam fritters, oyster fritters.

2. A fragment; a shred; a small piece.

And cut whole giants into fritters. --Hudibras.

Corn fritter. See under Corn.

Fritter

Frit"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Frittered; p. pr. & vb. n. Frittering.]

1. To cut, as meat, into small pieces, for frying.

2. To break into small pieces or fragments.

Break all nerves, and fritter all their sense. --Pope.

To fritter away, to diminish; to pare off; to reduce to nothing by taking away a little at a time; also, to waste piecemeal; as, to fritter away time, strength, credit, etc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Fritter
Spanish: desperdiciar, malgastar,
German: verplempern,
Japanese: 浪費する
More Translations »

fritter  (v.)
"whittle away," 1728, from fritters "fragment or shred," possibly alteration of 16c. fitters "fragments or pieces," perhaps ultimately from O.Fr. fraiture "a breaking," from L. fractura.

fritter  (n.)
"fried batter," 1381, from O.Fr. friture "something fried," from L.L. frictura "a frying."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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fritter

any of three types of fried foods. Plain fritters are deep-fried cakes of chou paste or a yeast dough. In a second type bits of meat, seafood, vegetables, or fruit are coated with a batter and deep fried. Small cakes of chopped food in batter, such as corn fritters in the southern United States, are also called fritters.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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