French
1 Americanadjective
noun
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(used with a plural verb) the people of France collectively.
Philosophies advanced by the French during the Age of Reason profoundly influenced the American Founding Fathers.
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a Romance language spoken in France, parts of Belgium and Switzerland, and in areas colonized after 1500 by France. F, Fr.
verb (used with object)
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(often lowercase) to prepare (food) according to a French method.
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(often lowercase) to cut (snap beans) into slivers or thin strips before cooking.
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(often lowercase) to trim the meat from the end of (a rib chop or chicken breast with attached wing).
For this recipe, the chops on the rack of lamb are Frenched about an inch. To french a chicken breast, scrape down the meat on the wing to expose the bone.
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(often lowercase) to prepare (meat) for cooking by slicing it into strips and pounding.
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Slang. to short-sheet (a bed).
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(often lowercase) to give (someone) a French kiss.
Her parents found her frenching her boyfriend on the porch swing after curfew.
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(often lowercase) to perform fellatio or cunnilingus on.
idioms
noun
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Alice Octave Thanet, 1850–1934, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.
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Daniel Chester, 1850–1931, U.S. sculptor.
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Sir John Denton Pinkstone 1st Earl of Ypres, 1852–1925, English field marshal in World War I.
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Marilyn, 1929–2009, U.S. novelist and nonfiction writer.
noun
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the official language of France: also an official language of Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, and certain other countries. It is the native language of approximately 70 million people; also used for diplomacy. Historically, French is an Indo-European language belonging to the Romance group See also Old French Anglo-French
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(functioning as plural) the natives, citizens, or inhabitants of France collectively
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See French vermouth
adjective
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relating to, denoting, or characteristic of France, the French, or their language
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(in Canada) of or relating to French Canadians
noun
Other Word Forms
- Frenchness noun
Etymology
Origin of French
First recorded before 1150; Middle English Frennsce, Frensh, French, from Old English Frencisc; Frank, -ish 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I congratulate our armed forces on their professional and decisive conduct during tonight's successful operation, and thank our French partners for providing essential support," Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever wrote on social media.
From Barron's
From just before the Wall fell to now, the “guns” sector had the third-best total return out of 49 U.S. sectors defined by Kenneth French, a Dartmouth finance professor.
In 1992, Scottish salmon was awarded the Label Rouge, a prestigious mark of quality from French authorities indicating a superior food product.
From Salon
Congo-Brazzaville, a former French colony, is rich in oil but nearly half of its six million people live below the poverty line.
From Barron's
Jessie Homer French has been painting folk-inflected scenes of environmental catastrophe for decades, but her consistent message and style remain bracingly fresh in the presentation by Various Small Fires.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
