frittern.¹

Brit.

/ˈfrɪtə/, U.S.

/ˈfrɪdər/

Forms: Middle English fretoure, freture, frutter, fruyter, frytour, frytowre, ( freature), Middle English–1500s frit-, frut-, -er, -eur, -our(e, -ur(e, 1500s frither, frytter, 1600s frittar, Middle English– fritter.

Etymology: < French friture = Spanish fritura , Italian frittura < Latin type *frīctūra , < frīgĕre to fry v.¹

1. Usually plural. A portion of batter, sometimes containing slices of apple, meat, etc., fried in oil, lard, etc. Often preceded by some qualifying word, as apple-fritter, oyster-fritter, rice-fritter; also, in 15–16th centuries, in some semi-anglicized French terms, as †fritter-bounce, fritter-pouch, fritter-sage, fritter-viant (meat) (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > pancake, tortilla, or oatcake > [noun] > fritter

frutour lumbard?c1390

sambocade?1390

fritterc1460

frittado1635

beignet1835

Haman's ears1846

c1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 501–2 O fruture viant, Frutur sawge, byn good, bettur is Frutur powche; Appulle fruture is good hoot, but þe cold ye not towche.

a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 55 Tarts and daryels and custan dere, Rysshene and pome dorres, and frutur in fere.

c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxxxxij/1 Fresshe storgion quynces in paste Tarte poleyn ffritour bounce.

a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. clxxxviii^v Frytour of Sunne facion with A floure Delyce therin.

1634 J. Taylor Great Eater of Kent 12 Pancake or fritter or flap-iacke.

1664 S. Pepys Diary 19 Aug. (1971) V. 247 Home to supper to a good dish of fritters.

1769 E. Raffald Experienced Eng. House-keeper v. 142 Batter, made as for common Fritters.

1835 W. Irving Tour on Prairies 72 A paste made of flour and water, and fried, like fritters, in lard.

1859 All Year Round 31 Dec. 222 The fritter refuses to imbibe any more oil.

1861 G. A. Sala Dutch Pict. xix. 301 I have heard much of the rice fritters and savoury soups of the Lancashire vegetarians.

figurative.a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xiii. sig. Qq1 O Clinias..the very fritter of fraude, and seething pot of iniquitie.

†2. ? A species of apple. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > other fruits > [noun]

tamarind1539

zizypha1546

guava1555

tuna1555

turpentine1562

mango1582

mammee1587

durian1588

lychee1588

sapota1589

fritter1591

mangosteen1598

custard apple1648

longan1655

mammee sapota1657

mammee apple1683

breadfruit1697

coco-plum1699

rambutan1707

pawpaw1709

locust bean1731

sapodilla1750

cherimoya1758

wild lime1767

Otaheite apple1777

narra1779

langsat1783

rose apple1790

cinnamon apple1796

sapota plum1797

bhindi1809

salak1820

gingerbread plum1824

geebung1827

loquat1829

sapodilla plum1830

sage-apple1832

kangaroo-apple1834

karaka-fruit1834

quandong1836

mombin1837

terap1839

zapote1842

tamarind plum1846

prairie pea1848

Barbados-cherry1858

kei-apple1859

Natal plum1859

bullock's heart1866

guava-apple1866

Sierra Leone peach1866

Turkey fig1866

marula1877

scarlet banana1885

Suriname cherry1895

feijoa1898

pear apple1898

ume1918

pepino1922

Chinese gooseberry1925

num-num1926

acerola1954

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > apple > other apples

Bretonc1390

stur1483

marigold apple1577

fritter1591

Margaret1597

critling1611

cat's-head1617

rosiar1620

rose apple1626

snouting1651

roundling1655

mayflower1664

red greening1664

seaming1664

sheep's snout1664

spicing apple1664

violet-apple1664

pomme d'api1676

rathe-ripe1677

rose1678

lady's finger1688

stone apple1736

sops-in-wine1764

stone pippin1769

Manx codlin1818

Rymer1820

Roxbury russet1826

souring1832

genet1833

tompot1836

Wagener1848

flesh and blood1853

pick-thong1871

virgin1886

Jon1931

Idared1942

1591 J. Lyly Endimion iii. iii. sig. E3 For fruite these, fretters, medlers, hartichockes, and Lady longings.

3. plural. Whaling = fenks n. [Perhaps a transferred use of French friture fat in which something is fried.]

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > [noun] > large member of (whale) > parts of > blubber or flesh

fritters1631

speck1743

flench-gut1808

fenks1820

kent1820

whale blubber1844

plum pudding1851

rind1870

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > other animal raw materials > [noun] > whale-blubber > part of

fritters1631

fenks1820

1631 E. Pellham Gods Power 22 Wee agreed..to keepe Wednesdayes and Fridayes Fasting dayes; excepting from the Frittars or Graves of the Whale. [margin] These be the Scraps of the Fat of the Whale, which are flung away after the Oyle is gotten out of it.

1813 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 488 Extracting the oil from the fritters.

1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 176 The finks or fritters were always sufficient to boil the remainder without any other fuel.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

fritter-barrow n.

ΚΠ

1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 176 A ‘fritter barrow’ being furnished with a grating..drained the oil from the fritters.

fritter-pan n.

ΚΠ

1631 B. Jonson Staple of Newes ii. iii. 17 in Wks. II My face dropt like the skimmer in a fritter panne.

fritter-seller n.

ΚΠ

1636 W. Davenant Witts i. sig. B^v Hans van Holme, Fritter seller Of Bombell.

C2.

fritter-filled adj.

ΚΠ

1619 Pasquils Palinodia sig. D^v When euery Paunch till it can hold no more, Is Fritter-fild, as well as heart can wish.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

frittern.²

Brit.

/ˈfrɪtə/, U.S.

/ˈfrɪdər/

Etymology: apparently an altered form of fitters n.; perhaps due to the influence of fritter n.¹; but compare Old French freture , fraiture < Latin fractūra fracture n.

1. plural. Minute pieces, fragments, shreds. Also, articles of trifling size, trifles. Now rare.In Johnson's quots. (Bacon, 1626; Butler, 1678) the correct reading is fitters; in Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor. v. v. 142 the word is probably fritter n.¹

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a fragment > fragments > small

fritters1686

smithereens1795

crunches1839

smithers1845

shivereens1855

jam-rag1869

1755 in S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang.

1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality I. iv. 94 Trimmings hanging in..fritters, and tatters.

?c1890 in Daily News 12 Oct. (1895) 6/3 A huge collection of ornamental fritters huddled together.

attributive.1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica ii. ii. 168 There appears these differences, Flaxen Clouds, Fleec'd Clouds, some which I call Fritter Clouds, all from their likeness.

2. [ < fritter v.] Excessive subdivision (by which the general effect is lost).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little importance or trivial > collectively

fiddle-faddle1577

fry1587

small beer1620

pigs and whistles1681

trantlesa1689

rattletrap1742

fewtrils1763

fritter1803

nugae1822

small beer1844

trick1877

trivia1902

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > [noun] > division into small pieces > excessively

frittering1795

fritter1803

1803 H. Repton Observ. Landscape Gardening iv. 56 Producing variety without fritter, and continuity without sameness.

1848 J. H. Parker Rickman's Styles Archit. Eng. (ed. 5) 201 This window is a series of small panels..and these..throw the building into fritter.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

fritterv.

Brit.

/ˈfrɪtə/, U.S.

/ˈfrɪdər/

Forms: Also 1700s fretter.

Etymology: < fritter n.²

a. transitive. To break or tear into pieces or fragments; to subdivide minutely. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > separate into constituents [verb (transitive)] > make into (small) pieces

offe?1440

fine1548

flake1632

fritter1780

fragmentize1815

fragment1818

macadamize1825

fraction1841

morselize1894

1780 E. Burke Speech Econ. Reform in Wks. (1826) III. 285 Frittering and crumbling down the attention by a blind unsystematick observance of every trifle.

1790 Coll. Voy. round World IV. i. 1243 Having our main-top-gallant yard carried away in the slings, and the sail frittered in a thousand pieces.

1803 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) III. 508 Perverting the simple doctrines he taught..and frittering them into subtleties.

a1806 J. Barry in R. N. Wornum Lect. on Painting (1848) 83 The no less mischievous fragments into which they [sc. northern hordes] were frittered.

1807 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life II. xx. 262 The kernel to be..frittered among the parties cracking.

1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) II. 236 France was once frittered into subdivisions, as Spain still is.

1822 J. M. Good Study Med. I. 408 When they [i.e. hydatids] die, the bags and cysts are often broken up, and become frittered into minute tatters and filaments.

1866 W. R. Alger Solitudes Nature & Man iv. 366 That throng of women whose attention is frittered on trifles.

b. intransitive for reflexive. †To become broken into pieces or subdivided (obsolete). rarely, To dwindle.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > undergo separation into constituents [verb (intransitive)] > cease to cohere > disintegrate > into small pieces

fitterc1380

foulder1610

shred1647

shoal1733

fritter1794

fragment1961

the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)] > gradually

meltc1225

dwindle1598

to die down1836

to trail off1845

to taper off (away, down)1848

to tail off (out)1854

to tail away1860

fritter1874

1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 79 Small pieces of it fritter between the fingers.

a1828 H. Neele Lit. Remains (1829) 18 The canvass fritters into shreds and the column moulders into ruin.

1874 J. Parker Paraclete 377 Minuteness never fritters into pettiness.

a. With away, down: To do away with piecemeal; to attenuate, wear down, whittle away; to spend (energy, time) on trifles, to waste.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > reduce by degrees

parea1475

whittle1552

thwittle1593

fritter1728

step1960

de-escalate1964

to phase down1970

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (transitive)] > waste

spilla1000

scatter1154

aspilla1250

rospa1325

waste1340

spend1390

consumec1425

waste1474

miswenda1500

forsumea1510

to cast away1530

to throw away1561

embezzle1578

squander1593

palter1595

profuse1611

squander1611

ravel1614

sport1622

to fool away1628

to stream out1628

to fribble away1633

sweal1655

frisk1665

to fiddle away1667

wantonize1673

slattera1681

swattle1681

drivel1686

swatter1690

to muddle away1707

squander1717

sot1746

slattern1747

meisle1808

fritter1820

waster1821

slobber1837

to cut to waste1863

fringe1863

potter1883

putter1911

profligate1938

to piddle away1942

haemorrhage1978

spaff2002

1728 A. Pope Dunciad i. 222 How Prologues into Prefaces decay, And those to Notes are fritter'd quite away.

1777 E. Burke Let. to Marq. Rockingham in Wks. IX. 170 To break the continuity of your conduct, and thereby to weaken and fritter away the impression of it.

1799 H. More Strict. Mod. Syst. Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 73 They had..frittered down delicacy into frivolousness.

1803 Duke of Wellington Let. to Close in Dispatches (1837) II. 88 To fritter away the small force which his Highness has produced.

1820 Ld. Dudley Let. 26 Sept. (1840) 266 Our unpunctuality..fritters away so large a part of the..day in wearisome waiting.

1837 J. R. McCulloch Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire I. iii. i. 521 The whole country would be frittered down into potato gardens.

1846 W. M. Thackeray Crit. Rev. in Wks. (1886) XXIII. 96 He frittered away in fugitive publications time and genius.

1868 M. E. Braddon Run to Earth III. vi. 87 You know what Sheridan said about frittering away his money in paying his debts.

†b. With out. To bring out, utter piecemeal.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > utter in a chattering manner [verb (transitive)] > utter at length

frittera1764

to gammon the hind leg off a donkey1928

a1764 R. Lloyd Poetry Professors 42 What pretty things imagination Will fritter out in adulation.

Derivatives

ˈfrittered adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [adjective] > mis-spent

misdispended?a1425

misspentc1440

frittered1791

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > [adjective] > divided > divided into small parts > excessively

frittered1791

1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1778 II. 216 He could put together only curt frittered fragments of his own.

1803 H. Repton Observ. Landscape Gardening iv. 47 If too many trees be introduced..the effect becomes fritter'd.

1815 J. Scott Visit to Paris vii. 97 Broken mass of small windows, unequal stories, frittered compartments.

1853 F. W. Robertson Serm. 2nd Ser. 337 A foolish, frivolous, disgraceful, frittered past.

ˈfrittering n. and adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [noun] > waste

waste1297

spillingc1380

consuminga1538

profusion1545

lavishing1574

consumption1613

lavishment1630

frittering1795

uneconomicalness1817

wastry1830

wastage1885

ineconomy1897

haemorrhaging1967

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > [noun] > division into small pieces > excessively

frittering1795

fritter1803

1795 W. Mason Ess. Eng. Church Music ii. 136 The frittering of one syllable into almost half a century of semiquavers is perhaps the best and only expedient for shewing its executive powers.

1889 Spectator 9 Nov. This frittering away of feeling on the scenes of an opera.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

n.¹c1460

n.²1686

v.1728

单词	fritter
释义	frittern.¹ Brit. /ˈfrɪtə/, U.S. /ˈfrɪdər/ Forms: Middle English fretoure, freture, frutter, fruyter, frytour, frytowre, ( freature), Middle English–1500s frit-, frut-, -er, -eur, -our(e, -ur(e, 1500s frither, frytter, 1600s frittar, Middle English– fritter. Etymology: < French friture = Spanish fritura , Italian frittura < Latin type frīctūra , < frīgĕre* to fry v.¹ 1. Usually plural. A portion of batter, sometimes containing slices of apple, meat, etc., fried in oil, lard, etc. Often preceded by some qualifying word, as apple-fritter, oyster-fritter, rice-fritter; also, in 15–16th centuries, in some semi-anglicized French terms, as †fritter-bounce, fritter-pouch, fritter-sage, fritter-viant (meat) (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > pancake, tortilla, or oatcake > [noun] > fritter frutour lumbard?c1390 sambocade?1390 fritterc1460 frittado1635 beignet1835 Haman's ears1846 c1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 501–2 O fruture viant, Frutur sawge, byn good, bettur is Frutur powche; Appulle fruture is good hoot, but þe cold ye not towche. a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 55 Tarts and daryels and custan dere, Rysshene and pome dorres, and frutur in fere. c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxxxxij/1 Fresshe storgion quynces in paste Tarte poleyn ffritour bounce. a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. clxxxviii^v Frytour of Sunne facion with A floure Delyce therin. 1634 J. Taylor Great Eater of Kent 12 Pancake or fritter or flap-iacke. 1664 S. Pepys Diary 19 Aug. (1971) V. 247 Home to supper to a good dish of fritters. 1769 E. Raffald Experienced Eng. House-keeper v. 142 Batter, made as for common Fritters. 1835 W. Irving Tour on Prairies 72 A paste made of flour and water, and fried, like fritters, in lard. 1859 All Year Round 31 Dec. 222 The fritter refuses to imbibe any more oil. 1861 G. A. Sala Dutch Pict. xix. 301 I have heard much of the rice fritters and savoury soups of the Lancashire vegetarians. figurative.a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xiii. sig. Qq1 O Clinias..the very fritter of fraude, and seething pot of iniquitie. †2. ? A species of apple. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > other fruits > [noun] tamarind1539 zizypha1546 guava1555 tuna1555 turpentine1562 mango1582 mammee1587 durian1588 lychee1588 sapota1589 fritter1591 mangosteen1598 custard apple1648 longan1655 mammee sapota1657 mammee apple1683 breadfruit1697 coco-plum1699 rambutan1707 pawpaw1709 locust bean1731 sapodilla1750 cherimoya1758 wild lime1767 Otaheite apple1777 narra1779 langsat1783 rose apple1790 cinnamon apple1796 sapota plum1797 bhindi1809 salak1820 gingerbread plum1824 geebung1827 loquat1829 sapodilla plum1830 sage-apple1832 kangaroo-apple1834 karaka-fruit1834 quandong1836 mombin1837 terap1839 zapote1842 tamarind plum1846 prairie pea1848 Barbados-cherry1858 kei-apple1859 Natal plum1859 bullock's heart1866 guava-apple1866 Sierra Leone peach1866 Turkey fig1866 marula1877 scarlet banana1885 Suriname cherry1895 feijoa1898 pear apple1898 ume1918 pepino1922 Chinese gooseberry1925 num-num1926 acerola1954 the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > apple > other apples Bretonc1390 stur1483 marigold apple1577 fritter1591 Margaret1597 critling1611 cat's-head1617 rosiar1620 rose apple1626 snouting1651 roundling1655 mayflower1664 red greening1664 seaming1664 sheep's snout1664 spicing apple1664 violet-apple1664 pomme d'api1676 rathe-ripe1677 rose1678 lady's finger1688 stone apple1736 sops-in-wine1764 stone pippin1769 Manx codlin1818 Rymer1820 Roxbury russet1826 souring1832 genet1833 tompot1836 Wagener1848 flesh and blood1853 pick-thong1871 virgin1886 Jon1931 Idared1942 1591 J. Lyly Endimion iii. iii. sig. E3 For fruite these, fretters, medlers, hartichockes, and Lady longings. 3. plural. Whaling = fenks n. [Perhaps a transferred use of French friture fat in which something is fried.] ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > [noun] > large member of (whale) > parts of > blubber or flesh fritters1631 speck1743 flench-gut1808 fenks1820 kent1820 whale blubber1844 plum pudding1851 rind1870 society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > other animal raw materials > [noun] > whale-blubber > part of fritters1631 fenks1820 1631 E. Pellham Gods Power 22 Wee agreed..to keepe Wednesdayes and Fridayes Fasting dayes; excepting from the Frittars or Graves of the Whale. [margin] These be the Scraps of the Fat of the Whale, which are flung away after the Oyle is gotten out of it. 1813 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 488 Extracting the oil from the fritters. 1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 176 The finks or fritters were always sufficient to boil the remainder without any other fuel. Compounds C1. General attributive. fritter-barrow n. ΚΠ 1820 W. Scoresby Acct. Arctic Regions II. 176 A ‘fritter barrow’ being furnished with a grating..drained the oil from the fritters. fritter-pan n. ΚΠ 1631 B. Jonson Staple of Newes ii. iii. 17 in Wks. II My face dropt like the skimmer in a fritter panne. fritter-seller n. ΚΠ 1636 W. Davenant Witts i. sig. B^v Hans van Holme, Fritter seller Of Bombell. C2. fritter-filled adj. ΚΠ 1619 Pasquils Palinodia sig. D^v When euery Paunch till it can hold no more, Is Fritter-fild, as well as heart can wish. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022). frittern.² Brit. /ˈfrɪtə/, U.S. /ˈfrɪdər/ Etymology: apparently an altered form of fitters n.; perhaps due to the influence of fritter n.¹; but compare Old French freture , fraiture < Latin fractūra fracture n. 1. plural. Minute pieces, fragments, shreds. Also, articles of trifling size, trifles. Now rare.In Johnson's quots. (Bacon, 1626; Butler, 1678) the correct reading is fitters; in Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor. v. v. 142 the word is probably fritter n.¹ ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a fragment > fragments > small fritters1686 smithereens1795 crunches1839 smithers1845 shivereens1855 jam-rag1869 1755 in S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. 1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality I. iv. 94 Trimmings hanging in..fritters, and tatters. ?c1890 in Daily News 12 Oct. (1895) 6/3 A huge collection of ornamental fritters huddled together. attributive.1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica ii. ii. 168 There appears these differences, Flaxen Clouds, Fleec'd Clouds, some which I call Fritter Clouds, all from their likeness. 2. [ < fritter v.] Excessive subdivision (by which the general effect is lost). ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little importance or trivial > collectively fiddle-faddle1577 fry1587 small beer1620 pigs and whistles1681 trantlesa1689 rattletrap1742 fewtrils1763 fritter1803 nugae1822 small beer1844 trick1877 trivia1902 the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > [noun] > division into small pieces > excessively frittering1795 fritter1803 1803 H. Repton Observ. Landscape Gardening iv. 56 Producing variety without fritter, and continuity without sameness. 1848 J. H. Parker Rickman's Styles Archit. Eng. (ed. 5) 201 This window is a series of small panels..and these..throw the building into fritter. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022). fritterv. Brit. /ˈfrɪtə/, U.S. /ˈfrɪdər/ Forms: Also 1700s fretter. Etymology: < fritter n.² 1. a. transitive. To break or tear into pieces or fragments; to subdivide minutely. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > separate into constituents [verb (transitive)] > make into (small) pieces offe?1440 fine1548 flake1632 fritter1780 fragmentize1815 fragment1818 macadamize1825 fraction1841 morselize1894 1780 E. Burke Speech Econ. Reform in Wks. (1826) III. 285 Frittering and crumbling down the attention by a blind unsystematick observance of every trifle. 1790 Coll. Voy. round World IV. i. 1243 Having our main-top-gallant yard carried away in the slings, and the sail frittered in a thousand pieces. 1803 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) III. 508 Perverting the simple doctrines he taught..and frittering them into subtleties. a1806 J. Barry in R. N. Wornum Lect. on Painting (1848) 83 The no less mischievous fragments into which they [sc. northern hordes] were frittered. 1807 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life II. xx. 262 The kernel to be..frittered among the parties cracking. 1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) II. 236 France was once frittered into subdivisions, as Spain still is. 1822 J. M. Good Study Med. I. 408 When they [i.e. hydatids] die, the bags and cysts are often broken up, and become frittered into minute tatters and filaments. 1866 W. R. Alger Solitudes Nature & Man iv. 366 That throng of women whose attention is frittered on trifles. b. intransitive for reflexive. †To become broken into pieces or subdivided (obsolete). rarely, To dwindle. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > undergo separation into constituents [verb (intransitive)] > cease to cohere > disintegrate > into small pieces fitterc1380 foulder1610 shred1647 shoal1733 fritter1794 fragment1961 the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)] > gradually meltc1225 dwindle1598 to die down1836 to trail off1845 to taper off (away, down)1848 to tail off (out)1854 to tail away1860 fritter1874 1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 79 Small pieces of it fritter between the fingers. a1828 H. Neele Lit. Remains (1829) 18 The canvass fritters into shreds and the column moulders into ruin. 1874 J. Parker Paraclete 377 Minuteness never fritters into pettiness. 2. a. With away, down: To do away with piecemeal; to attenuate, wear down, whittle away; to spend (energy, time) on trifles, to waste. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > reduce by degrees parea1475 whittle1552 thwittle1593 fritter1728 step1960 de-escalate1964 to phase down1970 the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (transitive)] > waste spilla1000 scatter1154 aspilla1250 rospa1325 waste1340 spend1390 consumec1425 waste1474 miswenda1500 forsumea1510 to cast away1530 to throw away1561 embezzle1578 squander1593 palter1595 profuse1611 squander1611 ravel1614 sport1622 to fool away1628 to stream out1628 to fribble away1633 sweal1655 frisk1665 to fiddle away1667 wantonize1673 slattera1681 swattle1681 drivel1686 swatter1690 to muddle away1707 squander1717 sot1746 slattern1747 meisle1808 fritter1820 waster1821 slobber1837 to cut to waste1863 fringe1863 potter1883 putter1911 profligate1938 to piddle away1942 haemorrhage1978 spaff2002 1728 A. Pope Dunciad i. 222 How Prologues into Prefaces decay, And those to Notes are fritter'd quite away. 1777 E. Burke Let. to Marq. Rockingham in Wks. IX. 170 To break the continuity of your conduct, and thereby to weaken and fritter away the impression of it. 1799 H. More Strict. Mod. Syst. Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 73 They had..frittered down delicacy into frivolousness. 1803 Duke of Wellington Let. to Close in Dispatches (1837) II. 88 To fritter away the small force which his Highness has produced. 1820 Ld. Dudley Let. 26 Sept. (1840) 266 Our unpunctuality..fritters away so large a part of the..day in wearisome waiting. 1837 J. R. McCulloch Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire I. iii. i. 521 The whole country would be frittered down into potato gardens. 1846 W. M. Thackeray Crit. Rev. in Wks. (1886) XXIII. 96 He frittered away in fugitive publications time and genius. 1868 M. E. Braddon Run to Earth III. vi. 87 You know what Sheridan said about frittering away his money in paying his debts. †b. With out. To bring out, utter piecemeal. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > utter in a chattering manner [verb (transitive)] > utter at length frittera1764 to gammon the hind leg off a donkey1928 a1764 R. Lloyd Poetry Professors 42 What pretty things imagination Will fritter out in adulation. Derivatives ˈfrittered adj. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [adjective] > mis-spent misdispended?a1425 misspentc1440 frittered1791 the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > [adjective] > divided > divided into small parts > excessively frittered1791 1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1778 II. 216 He could put together only curt frittered fragments of his own. 1803 H. Repton Observ. Landscape Gardening iv. 47 If too many trees be introduced..the effect becomes fritter'd. 1815 J. Scott Visit to Paris vii. 97 Broken mass of small windows, unequal stories, frittered compartments. 1853 F. W. Robertson Serm. 2nd Ser. 337 A foolish, frivolous, disgraceful, frittered past. ˈfrittering n. and adj. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [noun] > waste waste1297 spillingc1380 consuminga1538 profusion1545 lavishing1574 consumption1613 lavishment1630 frittering1795 uneconomicalness1817 wastry1830 wastage1885 ineconomy1897 haemorrhaging1967 the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > action of dividing or divided condition > [noun] > division into small pieces > excessively frittering1795 fritter1803 1795 W. Mason Ess. Eng. Church Music ii. 136 The frittering of one syllable into almost half a century of semiquavers is perhaps the best and only expedient for shewing its executive powers. 1889 Spectator 9 Nov. This frittering away of feeling on the scenes of an opera. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹c1460n.²1686v.1728
随便看	stringless stringlet stringlike stringline stringmaker stringmetal stringmoulding stringpea stringpiece stringpieces stringpin stringplate stringpuller stringpulling strings strings along strings up strings-attached stringsattached stringsful stringsoled stringtailed stringtied stringtone stringtoned

frittern.1

Compounds

frittern.2

fritterv.

Derivatives

frittern.¹

frittern.²