English
french
see also: French
Etymology

From Middle English French, Frensch, Frensh, from Old English frencisc, from Franca ("a Frank").

Pronunciation
  • (British, America) enPR: frĕnch, IPA: /fɹɛnt͡ʃ/, [fɹ̠ɛn̠t͡ʃ]
Verb

french (frenches, present participle frenching; simple past and past participle frenched)

  1. (transitive) To prepare food by cutting it into strips.
  2. (transitive) To kiss (another person) while inserting one’s tongue into the other person's mouth.
    • 1988, Wanda Coleman, A War of Eyes and other stories, page 151:
      Tom frenched her full in the mouth.
  3. (intransitive) To kiss in this manner.
    • 2003, Susan Steinberg, The End of Free Love, page 81:
      We frenched by the wall.
  4. (cuisine) To French trim; to stylishly expose bone by removing the fat and meat covering it (as done to a rack of lamb or bone-in rib-eye steak).
Synonyms Translations Translations
French
Etymology

In reference to vulgar language, from expressions such as pardon my French in the early 19th century, originally in reference to actual (but often mildly impolite) French expressions by the upper class, subsequently adopted ironically by the lower class for English cursewords under the charitable conceit that the listener would not be familiar with them.

In reference to vermouth, a shortened form of French vermouth, distinguished as usually being drier than Italian vermouth.

Pronunciation
  • (British, America) enPR: frĕnch, IPA: /fɹɛnt͡ʃ/
Proper noun
  1. (chiefly uncountable) The language of France, shared by the neighboring countries Belgium, Monaco, and Switzerland and by former French colonies around the world.
    She speaks French.
    • c. 1390, Robert Grosseteste, translating Chateau d'Amour as The Castle of Love, ll. 25 ff.:
      Ne mowe we alle Latin wite...
      Ne French...
    • 1533, Thomas More, The Debellacyon of Salem & Bizance, fol. 96:
      I... wolde also be bolde in such french as is peculiare to the lawys of this realme, to leue it wyth them in wrytynge to.
    • 1997, Albert Valdman, French and Creole in Louisiana, page 29:
      Almost three quarters of the population 65 and older reported speaking French.
    • 2004, Jack Flam, Matisse and Picasso: The Story of Their Rivalry and Friendship, page 18:
      Although he would spend the rest of his life in France, Picasso never mastered the language, and during those early years he was especially self-conscious about how bad his French was.
  2. (uncountable) The ability of a person to communicate in French.
    My French is a little rusty.
    • 1742 April 4, R. West, letter to Thomas Gray:
      [Racine's] language is the language of the times, and that of the purest sort; so that his French is reckoned a standard.
  3. (uncountable) French language and literature as an object of study.
    I'm taking French next semester.
  4. (uncountable, euphemistic, now often ironic) Vulgar language.
    Pardon my French.
    • 1845, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, Adventure in New Zealand, volume I, page 327:
      The enraged headsman spares no 'bad French' in explaining his motives.
    • 1986, John Hughes, ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off':
      Cameron: Pardon my French, but you're an asshole!
  5. (countable) Surname.
    Dawn French.
Translations Translations Noun

french

  1. (chiefly collective and in the plural) The people of France; groups of French people.
    The Hundred Years' War was fought between the English and the French.
    Under the Fourth Republic, more and more French unionized.
    • 1579, Francesco Guicciardini as, translated by Geoffrey Fenton, The Historie of Guicciardin, page 378:
      […] to breake the necke of the wicked purposes & plots of the French […]
    • 2002, Jeremy Thornton, The French and Indian War, page 14:
      On the way, scouts reported that some French were heading toward them across the ice.
  2. (uncountable, dated slang, sex) Synonym of oral sex, especially fellatio.
    • 1916, Henry Nathaniel Cary, The Slang of Venery and Its Analogues‎, volume I, page 94:
      French--[sic] to do the French--Cocksucking; and, inversely, to tongue a woman.
    • 1986 May 6, Semper Floreat, page 34:
      Always use condoms with Greek (anal intercourse), straight sex (vaginal intercourse, fucking), French (oral sex).
  3. (chiefly uncountable, dated slang) Ellipsis of French vermouth, a type of dry vermouth.
Translations Adjective

french

  1. Of or relating to France.
    the French border with Italy
  2. Of or relating to the people or culture of France.
    French customs
  3. Of or relating to the French language.
    French verbs
  4. (slang, sexuality) Of or related to oral sex, especially fellatio.
    Coordinate term: straight
    French active ― person who is fellated
    French girl ― a prostitute who offers fellatio
    • 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Not too Far Tangent”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 23 ↗:
      She was a tall redhead, with a shape that would make you jump for joy and a reputation as the best French girl in the place.
  5. (informal, often, euphemistic) Used to form names or references to venereal diseases.
    French disease ― a venereal disease
    French crown ― hair loss from venereal disease
    French pox ― syphillis
  6. Used to form names or references to an unconventional or fancy style.
    French curve ― drafting template having edges of various curvatures
    French cut ― sliced lengthwise in thin strips
    French fries ― french cut potato fries
    French kiss ― kissing with the tongue
    French manicure ― painting white under the finger nails
    French window or French door ― double wooden windows or doors crafted with panes of glass
    French refrigerator ― continuous refrigerator space on top accessed by two doors, with a freezer drawer below
    French polish ― type of glossy varnish for wood
    French inhale ― act of expelling cigarette smoke from the mouth and simultaneously inhaling it through the nose
    French exit or French leave ― hasty exit made without saying farewells to anybody
    French toast ― Food prepared by dipping bread into egg batter and frying
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Verb

french (frenches, present participle frenching; simple past and past participle frenched)

  1. Alternative case form of french
    • 1995, Jack Womack, Random Acts of Senseless Violence, page 87:
      Even before I thought about what I was doing we Frenched and kissed with tongues.


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
Offline English dictionary