fry

UK: /ˈfraɪ/ US: /fraɪ/ ,(frī)

Inflections of 'fry' (n):

fry

npl (For the fish only—e.g. "We went fishing for fry.")

fries

npl (All other usages)

Inflections of 'fry' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

fries

v 3rd person singular

frying

v pres p

fried

v past

fried

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

fry¹ /fraɪ/   v., fried, fry•ing, n., pl. fries. 
v. 

1. Food to (cause to) undergo cooking in fat or oil, usually over direct heat: [~ + object]
   Let's fry some bacon and eggs.
   [~ + up + object]
   Let's fry up some bacon.
   [~ + object + up]
   Let's fry it up.
   [no object]
   The bacon and eggs fried.

n. [countable]

2. Food a strip of French-fried potato.
3. a social gathering at which food is fried.

fry² /fraɪ/   n. [countable] , pl. fry. 

1. Zoology the young of fish.
2. people, esp. children:
   games for small fry.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

fry¹  (frī), v., fried, fry•ing, n., pl. fries. 
v.t. 

1. Food to cook in a pan or on a griddle over direct heat, usually in fat or oil.
2. Slang Terms to execute by electrocution in an electric chair.

v.i. 
3. Food to undergo cooking in fat or oil.
4. Slang Terms to die by electrocution in an electric chair.

n. 
5. Food a dish of something fried.
6. Food a piece of french-fried potato.
7. a party or gathering at which the chief food is fried, frequently outdoors:
   a fish fry.
• Latin frīgere to fry
• Anglo-French, Old French frire
• 1250–1300; 1925–30 for def. 2; Middle English frien
fry′a•ble, adj. 

fry²  (frī), n., pl. fry. 

1. Zoology the young of fish.
2. Zoology the young of various other animals, as frogs.
3. people;
   individuals, esp. children:
   games that are fun for the small fry.

• Old Norse frjō seed; cognate with Swedish frö, Gothic fraiw seed
• Middle English frie, fry seed, descendant, perh. 1325–75

Fry  (frī), n. 

1. Biographical Christopher, born 1907, English playwright.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

fry / fraɪ/ verb (fries, frying, fried)

1. when tr, sometimes followed by up: to cook or be cooked in fat, oil, etc, usually over direct heat
2. to kill or be killed by electrocution, esp in the electric chair

noun (fries)

1. a dish of something fried, esp the offal of a specified animal: pig's fry
2. the act of preparing a mixed fried dish or the dish itself

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French frire, from Latin frīgere to roast, fry

fry / fraɪ/ noun:plural

1. the young of various species of fish
2. the young of certain other animals, such as frogs
3. young children
   See also small fry

Etymology: 14th Century (in the sense: young, offspring): perhaps via Norman French from Old French freier to spawn, rub, from Latin fricāre to rub

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Fry / fraɪ/ noun

1. Christopher. 1907–2005, English dramatist; author of the verse dramas A Phoenix Too Frequent (1946), The Lady's Not For Burning (1948), and Venus Observed (1950)
2. Elizabeth. 1780–1845, English prison reformer and Quaker
3. Roger Eliot. 1866–1934, English art critic and painter who helped to introduce the postimpressionists to Britain. His books include Vision and Design (1920) and Cézanne (1927)
4. Stephen (John). born 1957, British writer, actor, and comedian; his novels include The Liar (1991) and The Stars' Tennis Balls (2000)