Fry is a word with several unrelatednot connected or associated with each other meaningsdifferent senses or definitions of a word. It can mean a young child, a surname, or a way of cooking food in fat or oil. It can also mean to kill by electrocutionkilling someone by passing electricity through the body or to become very hot.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-14. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Pronunciation
AI-generated pronunciation audio (OpenAI).
Accent: General American English
IPA: /fraɪ/
Easy pronunciation: FRY (approximate spelling).
Stress: One syllable, so the word is fully stressed.
Verb meaning to cook food in hot oil or fat.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-14. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Fry Meaning
to cook food in hot oil or fat
Part of speech: verb
Definition: cook on a hot surface using fat
Example: She fried the eggs for breakfast.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-14. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Other Meanings of Fry
Meaning 2
a child or young person
Part of speech: noun
Definition: a young person of either sex
Example: The kids in the pool were just little fries.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- child — Works as a general substitute for a young person.
- kid — Common informal synonym for a young person.
- minor — Can mean a young person, but is more formal and legalistic.
- nipper — Informal and dialectal, used for a child.
- shaver — Informal word for a young boy or child.
- small fry — Refers to a small or unimportant person, and sometimes a child; less direct as a synonym.
- tiddler — More often means a small child or something very small; informal.
- tike — Informal word for a child.
- tyke — Informal word for a child.
- youngster — Natural synonym for a young person.
Meaning 3
Christopher Fry, the English playwright
Part of speech: noun
Definition: English dramatist noted for his comic verse dramas (born 1907)
Example: Christopher Fry wrote several verse dramas.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- christopher fry — Proper name of the dramatist.
Meaning 4
Roger Fry, the English painter and critic
Part of speech: noun
Definition: English painter and art critic (1866-1934)
Example: Roger Fry was an important modern art critic.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- roger eliot fry — Full proper name of the artist.
- roger fry — Common short form of the proper name.
Meaning 5
to kill with electricity
Part of speech: verb
Definition: kill by electrocution, as in the electric chair
Example: The prisoner was fried in the electric chair.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- electrocute — Direct synonym for killing by electricity.
Meaning 6
to be very hot, often uncomfortably so
Part of speech: verb
Definition: be excessively hot
Example: We were frying in the afternoon sun.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: inaccurate — correction needed. Checked: 2026-10-14. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Fry Synonyms
Similar Meaning
- cook
- deep-fry
- pan-fry
a young person of either sex
- child
- kid
- youngster
kill by electrocution, as in the electric chair
- electrocute
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: inaccurate — correction needed. Checked: 2026-10-14. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Common Mistakes
- Do not confuse fry the verb meaning 'cook in fat' with the noun fry meaning 'a young person.'
- Do not treat Fry as a single sense: it is also a surname.
- The verb meaning 'be excessively hot' is not the same as the cooking sense.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-14. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does fry mean?
Fry can mean to cook something in hot oil or fat, but it also has other senses, including a young person, a surname, and a verb meaning to kill by electricity or to become very hot.
What is the most common meaning of fry?
The most common everyday meaning is to cook food in hot oil or fat.
What are some synonyms for fry?
For the cooking sense, close substitutes include cook, deep-fry, and pan-fry. For the noun meaning a young person, common synonyms include child, kid, and youngster.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-14. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.