fritter

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English

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Etymology

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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.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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fritter (plural fritters)

  1. A dish made by deep-frying food coated in batter.
  2. A fragment; a shred; a small piece.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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fritter (third-person singular simple present fritters, present participle frittering, simple past and past participle frittered)

  1. (intransitive, often with about, around, or away) 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.
    It is quite possible to fritter one's life away in answer to the endless calls of others.
  2. (transitive) To sinter.
  3. (transitive) To cut (meat etc.) into small pieces for frying.
  4. (transitive) To break into small pieces or fragments.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

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French

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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fritter

  1. (transitive) to fritter / sinter

Conjugation

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Further reading

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