frisk

verb \ ˈfrisk \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Definition of frisk

frisked; frisking; frisks

: 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

Citizens of liberal democracies do not expect to be frisked without good cause, or have their homes searched without a warrant.

— The Economist, "Does China’s digital police state have echoes in the West?," 31 May 2018
In New York City, 91 percent of all the people who were stopped and frisked by the Police Department in 2017 were black or Latino.

— michael harriot, The Root, "The Sterling Brown Video Proves Once and for All That There Is No Such Thing as ‘Good Cops’," 24 May 2018
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers frisked undocumented immigrants at an ICE processing center in Manhattan in April.

— laura meckler, WSJ, "The Glitch in Trump’s Immigration Campaign: Overloaded Courts," 23 May 2018
They are frisked and removed from the building where they are placed in police cars awaiting questioning.

— anneclaire stapleton, CNN, "A mother's powerful letter about her child's experience hiding from the Santa Fe shooter," 19 May 2018
Police also arrested three men seen exiting Harrison’s apartment, though charges against the group were later dropped after a judge ruled that they were illegally stopped and frisked by a detective.

— laura crimaldi, BostonGlobe.com, "‘I don’t want to die,’ English High student said after being shot, allegedly by his dean," 17 May 2018
Walking out of a store, Scott and brothers Tyrone and Reggie were stopped and frisked for no reason, Scott writes.

— Detroit Free Press, "He helped start 1967 Detroit riot, now his son struggles with the legacy," 15 May 2018
Then Nya, a capuchin monkey who’ll frisk you for snacks.

— chris martins, Billboard, "One Crazy Night With Rae Sremmurd, the Superstar Duo About to Test Their Solo Talents," 12 Apr. 2018
Those forms provided a wealth of statistical information about who was being stopped and frisked.

— matt ford, The New Republic, "What London Can Learn From New York About Crime," 3 Apr. 2018

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

Do homicides go up in cities with stop-and-frisk requirements like Chicago's?

— salvador rizzo, chicagotribune.com, "Jeff Sessions' claim that an ACLU settlement with Chicago caused murders to spike," 14 May 2018
Do homicides go up in cities with stop-and-frisk requirements like Chicago’s?

— salvador rizzo, Washington Post, "Jeff Sessions’s claim that an ACLU settlement with Chicago caused murders to spike," 14 May 2018
The law was passed in December in response to allegations of unnecessary and unjustified stop-and-frisk searches by the NYPD, says the legislation.

— tony marco, CNN, "If you're stopped by the NYPD an officer will now give you a business card in case you want the bodycam footage," 9 May 2018
That added precision, police say, makes indiscriminate stop-and-frisks less likely, and builds upon the second piece: improving the department's fractured relationship with the public.

— jon schuppe and andrew blankstein /, NBC News, "Chicago's gun-torn South Side sees reason for hope as shootings drop," 9 May 2018
The attorney who reviewed the case for the complaints office concluded that the young man posed no danger to himself or anyone else and that the officer did not have enough grounds to conduct a stop and frisk.

— theresa vargas, Washington Post, "An officer’s response to a pregnant woman was ‘demeaning and offensive.’ Why her race matters.," 9 May 2018
In 51 percent of high schools with high concentrations of black and Latino students, cops freely stop, frisk, detain, question and arrest students on campus.

— sylvia a. harvey, The Root, "How to Stop Locking Up Kids," 26 Mar. 2018
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

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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