crisp

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a thin crisp slice of potato fried in deep fat
  2. verb make wrinkles or creases on a smooth surface; make a pressed, folded or wrinkled line in
  3. verb make brown and crisp by heating

Etymology

The adjective is derived partly from the following: * Etymology 1, adjective sense 1: Middle English crisp (“curly, wavy”), from Old English crisp (“curly”), from Latin crispus (“of hair: crimped, curly”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kris-, from *(s)ker- (“to bend; to turn”). * Etymology 1, adjective sense 2: from the above, and probably also onomatopoeic, representing a crinkling or crunching sound. Doublet of crape and crepe. Adjective etymology 1, adjective sense 2.2.3 (“of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry”) is transferred from a description of frost or snow as “crisp”, that is, crunchy. The noun is derived partly from the following: * Middle English crisp (“light, crinkled fabric; kind of pastry; crinkliness or roughness of skin”), from crisp (adjective) (see above). * Modern English crisp (adjective) (“having a consistency which is hard yet brittle”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

chip, potato chip, Saratoga chip

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