noun
Meaning 1
Synonym of pancake, a portion of batter fried on a pan.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: pancake
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
fritter
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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UK: /ˈfɹɪtə(ɹ)/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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US: frĭtʹər
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US: /ˈfɹɪtɚ/
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US: [ˈfɹɪɾɚ]
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɪtə(ɹ)
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CMU ARPABET: F R IH1 T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A dish made by coating various other foods in batter and frying or deep-frying them together, typically in small portions.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A fragment; a shred; a small piece.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, uncommon
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive, often
Qualifier: around; or away; around; or away
Examples
- 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.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To sinter.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To cut (meat etc.) into small pieces for frying.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To break into small pieces or fragments.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
small quantity of fried batter containing fruit or meat or vegetables
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: friedcake
Narrower terms: apple fritter, corn fritter
verb
Meaning 9
spend frivolously and unwisely
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- Fritter away one's inheritance
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: frivol away, dissipate, shoot, fritter away, fool, fool away
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: consume, squander, waste, ware
History
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.
Across languages
Translations
46 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Burmese: အကြော် (a.krau) — dish made by deep-frying
- Catalan: bunyol — dish made by deep-frying
- Dutch: beignet — dish made by deep-frying
- Finnish: friteerattu — dish made by deep-frying
- French: beignet — dish made by deep-frying
- German: Küchle — dish made by deep-frying
- German: im Teigmantel — dish made by deep-frying
- German: Bratling — dish made by deep-frying
- Interlingua: fritura — dish made by deep-frying
- Irish: friochtóg — dish made by deep-frying
- Korean: 튀김 (twigim) — dish made by deep-frying
- Macedonian: масленица (maslenica) — dish made by deep-frying
- Macedonian: питулица (pitulica) — dish made by deep-frying
- Macedonian: крофна (krofna) — dish made by deep-frying
- Macedonian: мекица (mekica) — dish made by deep-frying
- Malayalam: വറ (vaṟa) — dish made by deep-frying
- Māori: mea kōnatunatu — dish made by deep-frying
- Middle English: fryture — dish made by deep-frying
- Persian: بنیه (benye) — dish made by deep-frying
- Russian: по́нчик (pónčik) — dish made by deep-frying
- Russian: ола́дья (oládʹja) — dish made by deep-frying
- Russian: фри (fri) — dish made by deep-frying
- Russian: пирожо́к (pirožók) — dish made by deep-frying
- Serbo-Croatian: krofna — dish made by deep-frying
- Serbo-Croatian: uštipak — dish made by deep-frying
- Tagalog: maruya — dish made by deep-frying
- Welsh: mioden — dish made by deep-frying
- Bulgarian: прахосвам (prahosvam) — to waste time
- Dutch: prutsen — to waste time
- Finnish: näperrellä — to waste time
- German: prötteln — to waste time
- German: sich verzetteln — to waste time
- German: frickeln — to waste time
- Russian: дурью маяться (durʹju majatʹsja) — to waste time
- Spanish: malgastar energías — to waste time
- Finnish: suikaloida — to cut meat into small pieces
- German: kleinschneiden — to cut meat into small pieces
- German: zerteilen — to cut meat into small pieces
- German: würfeln — to cut meat into small pieces
- German: zerkleinern — to cut meat into small pieces
- Russian: нарезать (narezatʹ) — to cut meat into small pieces
- Finnish: särkeä — to break into small pieces
- German: zerkleinern — to break into small pieces
- German: zerbrechen — to break into small pieces
- German: zerteilen — to break into small pieces
- Russian: дробить (drobitʹ) — to break into small pieces
Real reading context