frisk

verb \ ˈfrisk \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

Definition of frisk

: to leap, skip, or dance in a lively or playful way : gambol

: to search (a person) for something (such as a concealed weapon) by running the hand rapidly over the clothing and through the pockets

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frisker

noun

See frisk defined for English-language learners

See frisk defined for kids

Examples of frisk in a Sentence

carefree kids laughing and frisking about in their backyard

Recent Examples of frisk from the Web

The state now has cellphone detection devices at all prisons and frisks almost everyone who enters.

— gavin off and ames alexander, charlotteobserver, "High-ranking Crip 'wooed' NC prison officer. The FBI ended their romance. | Charlotte Observer," 26 Mar. 2018
Burroughs wrote that Herrera was frisked, and a state trooper removed $2,000 cash from his pocket.

— travis andersen, BostonGlobe.com, "Dedham man told police to ‘go ahead and check’ his SUV. They found heroin inside.," 8 Mar. 2018
Five officers pulled up and stopped and frisked Mr. Lewis.

— benjamin mueller, New York Times, "Case of Jogger’s Murder Hinges, in Part, on Questions Over a Police Stop," 22 Jan. 2018
Cops had stopped, questioned, and frisked thousands of New Yorkers during Bratton’s run in the mid-’90s.

— chris smith, Daily Intelligencer, "The Controversial Crime-Fighting Program That Changed Big-City Policing Forever," 2 Mar. 2018
The male passenger sitting in the back seat, Yust, was frisked.

— kaitlyn schwers, kansascity, "Kylr Yust’s half-brother has trial date for fleeing charges," 14 Feb. 2018
Bigelow captured some of that by showing the common policing practice in Detroit leading up to 1967, particularly in the late 1950s when the city instituted really aggressive policing tactics, like stopping and frisking African American men.

— jake blumgart, Slate Magazine, "Why Detroit Erupted," 14 Aug. 2017
Shawn Rosen, 34, a Wal-Mart employee in Apache Junction, Ariz., said was visiting a fair in Oregon some years ago when a police officer pulled him aside and started frisking him for drugs.

— todd spangler, Detroit Free Press, "Juggalos rally, march in Washington over "gang" label," 16 Sep. 2017
They are frisked and have their mouths checked for drugs and weapons.

— laura reston, New Republic, "A look inside the massive immigration enforcement apparatus that Obama built up—and that Trump is now exploiting.," 28 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'frisk.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of frisk

obsolete frisk lively

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1519

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

See Words from the same year

frisk Synonyms

Synonyms

caper, cavort, disport, frolic, gambol, lark, rollick, romp, sport;

Near Antonyms

mope, pout, stew, sulk;

dance, prance;

carouse, revel, roister;

carry on, fool around, horse around;

clown, cut up;

joyride, roughhouse, skylark;

kite;

Phrases

cut capers, kick up one's heels;

Other Legal Terms

actionable, alienable, carceral, chattel, complicity, decedent, larceny, malfeasance, modus operandi

frisk

noun

Definition of frisk

1 a archaic : caper

b : gambol, romp

c : diversion

2 : an act of frisking

Examples of frisk in a Sentence

fondly remembers the summer before he started college as one long frisk

Recent Examples of frisk from the Web

Not since the former commissioner Raymond W. Kelly was at loggerheads with the oversight board over stop-and-frisk tactics have the police departed so often from the board’s proposed penalties.

— New York Times, "Police, at Odds with Oversight Board, Reject More of Its Penalties," 12 Apr. 2018
Eddington said his department did not receive any official complaints about its stop and frisk actions in 2017.

— genevieve bookwalter, chicagotribune.com, "Black residents in Evanston subjected to more stop-and-frisk encounters than any other group, police chief says," 27 Mar. 2018
Officers conducted a pat frisk and recovered a loaded black Desert Eagle firearm from his waistband.

— travis andersen, BostonGlobe.com, "Drunk man drops his gun at CVS in the South End," 26 Mar. 2018
Testimony showed Boys was able to smuggle a gun into Holloway's police SUV because of an improper frisk and pat-down by former NOPD Officer Wardell Johnson.

— heather nolan, NOLA.com, "Daryle Holloway's mom says justice was served with guilty verdict in Travis Boys trial," 24 Mar. 2018
Some who testified noted studies that have shown brutality complaints are up against D.C. police and data demonstrating most police stops and frisks are of black people.

— peter hermann, Washington Post, "D.C. police hearing ends before all testimony could be heard due to protester disruptions," 1 Mar. 2018
Its second chapter became notorious for a surge in the use of stop-and-frisk in the ’00s and ’10s.

— chris smith, Daily Intelligencer, "The Controversial Crime-Fighting Program That Changed Big-City Policing Forever," 2 Mar. 2018
Supposedly a crime-fighting tool, Geofeedia was used by the BRIC as a virtual, online version of stop and frisk.

— michael harriot, The Root, "Let There Be No Mistake: If You’re Outspoken and Black or Muslim, ‘They’ Are Definitely Watching You," 8 Feb. 2018
After a weekend of gloom, the clouds had finally parted, bathing the city in frisk-inducing sunshine, just in time for the start of the Mystic Krewe of Barkus parade Sunday (Feb. 4).

— doug maccash, NOLA.com, "Barkus parade brought the doggy Dark Ages to the Quarter," 4 Feb. 2018

First Known Use of frisk

1525

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

FRISK Defined for English Language Learners

frisk

verb

Definition of frisk for English Language Learners

: to pass your hands over (someone) to search for something that may be hidden in clothing

FRISK Defined for Kids

frisk

verb \ ˈfrisk \

Definition of frisk for Students

frisked; frisking

1 : to move around in a lively or playful way

2 : to search a person quickly for something that may be hidden

Law Dictionary

frisk

transitive verb

legal Definition of frisk

: to run the hand rapidly over the outer clothing of (a suspect) for the purpose of finding concealed weapons — compare search

Note: The purpose of frisking a suspect is to insure the safety of an officer making an investigation against concealed weapons, not to uncover evidence. The officer must be justified in his or her encounter of the suspect and must have a reasonable suspicion that the suspect is armed. The scope of the frisk must be limited to the discovery of weapons.

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