fritter

frit·ter | \ ˈfri-tər

How to pronounce fritter (audio)

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Definition of fritter

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a small mass of fried or sautéed batter often containing fruit or meat

fritter

frittered; frittering; fritters

Definition of fritter (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to spend or waste bit by bit, on trifles, or without commensurate return —usually used with away

2 : to break into small fragments

intransitive verb

: dissipate, dwindle

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Examples of fritter in a Sentence

Noun she loves eating corn fritters with maple syrup

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Enter the fritter to make things sizzle once again. — Casey Barber, CNN, "You cooked for 20 and fed 6 people. What to do with all of those leftovers," 27 Nov. 2020 Morningstar doles out pastries, kolaches, and brioche-style donuts in atypical flavors such as matcha green tea with white chocolate ganache, pomegranate cream-filled, and a fritter made with pineapple, salted lime, and chile. — Marcy De Luna, Chron, "Morningstar coffee and donut shop in the Heights set to permanently close," 4 Dec. 2020 As Fleck and football fritter away millions ($38 million-plus expended in 2019 and ever-increasing), Coyle is saving a couple million and allegedly addressing a Title IX problem that could be fixed with much less gore on his hands. — Star Tribune, "Patrick Reusse's annual Turkey of the Year was done. But then 2020 happened ...," 25 Nov. 2020 The edges bake up crispy and, with the cake’s pockmarked appearance, the dessert resembles a giant apple fritter doughnut. — Los Angeles Times, "Pie is canceled for Thanksgiving 2020," 12 Nov. 2020 It’s always apple fritter season, though, at Old Fashioned Donuts on the South Side of Chicago. — Louisa Chu, chicagotribune.com, "He’s 82, but the owner of Old Fashioned Donuts in Roseland has no plans to stop making the best apple fritters in Chicago," 27 Oct. 2020 The new McCafé Bakery lineup includes an apple fritter, blueberry muffin and cinnamon roll. — Kelly Tyko, USA TODAY, "Free food for Election Day: Get freebies at McDonald's, Wendy's, Krispy Kreme and National Sandwich Day deals Tuesday," 3 Nov. 2020 Technically, a pancake is defined by batter; a fritter is defined by what’s dipped into batter, whether vegetables or fruits or leftover meats. — Bryan Washington, The New Yorker, "A Lifetime of Pancakes, and Jamaican Banana Fritters," 29 Oct. 2020 The fritter magic happens with the leftover scrap dough a little bit later. — Louisa Chu, chicagotribune.com, "He’s 82, but the owner of Old Fashioned Donuts in Roseland has no plans to stop making the best apple fritters in Chicago," 27 Oct. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The Kardashians fritter away a huge amount of time, in fact, playing harmless pranks on one another. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, "How COVID-19 Dethroned the Kardashians," 17 Nov. 2020 With the pandemic keeping people home, instead of commuting and going to coffee shops -- where Quibi founders thought the service would be just what the time-frittering customer ordered -- the service failed to find an audience. — oregonlive, "‘Top Chef,’ ‘Tiger King,’ the ‘TikTok Doc,’ streaming overload: What stood out in a surreal spring TV season," 2 June 2020 While the adults fritter away the days, drinking and doing drugs, their preternaturally mature offspring devise a separate, parallel society. — The New Yorker, "Briefly Noted," 25 May 2020 But the few weeks of time the U.S. bought with the travel restriction were frittered away, experts say. — Margaret Newkirk, Bloomberg.com, "U.S. Virus Response Marred by Overconfidence and Delays," 6 May 2020 This is the point in many media jeremiads when readers are braced for a high-minded paean to issue coverage and a tearful lament about why journalists fritter away their time with horse-race coverage. — Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, "The Political Media’s Blurred Reality," 12 Mar. 2020 Unlike Burke, who took extraordinary preventive measures to ensure there weren’t more deaths, Trump frittered away six precious weeks. — Roger Lowenstein, Washington Post, "Johnson & Johnson wrote the rules for managing a public health crisis. Trump broke them.," 16 Mar. 2020 Don't fritter away cash this week on things that won't last. — oregonlive, "Horoscope for Jan. 26, 2020: Leo, best to put others first; Virgo, be creative with projects," 26 Jan. 2020 Melvin Gordon sat out into September and watched the Los Angeles Chargers fritter their season away before reporting. — Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, "Deadline deal or not, Darius Slay's Detroit Lions tenure is destined to end soon," 29 Oct. 2019

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

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Last Updated

28 Dec 2020

Cite this Entry

“Fritter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fritter. Accessed 25 Jan. 2021.

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More Definitions for fritter

fritter

noun

English Language Learners Definition of fritter

: a small piece of food that has been coated in a flour and egg mixture and fried

See the full definition for fritter in the English Language Learners Dictionary

fritter

frit·ter | \ ˈfri-tər

\

Kids Definition of fritter

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a small amount of fried batter often containing fruit or meat clam fritters

fritter

frittered; frittering

Kids Definition of fritter (Entry 2 of 2)

: to waste on unimportant things He frittered away his money.

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