crisp

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See also: Crisp

English

Etymology

From Middle English crisp (“curly”), from Old English crisp (“curly”), from Latin crispus (“curly”). Doublet of crêpe.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kɹɪsp/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪsp

Adjective

crisp (comparative crisper, superlative crispest)

  1. (of something seen or heard) Sharp, clearly defined.
    This new television set has a very crisp image.
  2. Brittle; friable; in a condition to break with a short, sharp fracture.
    The crisp snow crunched underfoot.
    • (Can we date this quote by Goldsmith and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      The cakes at tea ate short and crisp.
  3. Possessing a certain degree of firmness and freshness.
    • (Can we date this quote by Leigh Hunt and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      It [laurel] has been plucked nine months, and yet looks as hale and crisp as if it would last ninety years.
  4. (of weather, air etc.) Dry and cold.
  5. (of movement, action etc.) Quick and accurate.
    • 2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC‎[1]:
      Stephen Ward's crisp finish from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake's pass 11 minutes into the second half proved enough to give Mick McCarthy's men a famous victory.
  6. (of talk, text, etc.) Brief and to the point.
    An expert, given a certain query, will often come up with a crisp answer: “yes” or “no”.
    • 1999, John Hampton, ‎Lisa Emerson, Writing Guidelines for Postgraduate Science Students (page 130)
      Another way of writing the last example is 'She brought along her favourite food which is chocolate cake' but this is less concise: colons can give your writing lean, crisp style.
    • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XV, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
      It was plain that the loss of Phyllis Mills, goofy though she unquestionably was, had hit him a shrewd wallop, and I presumed that he was coming to me for sympathy and heart balm, which I would have been only too pleased to dish out. I hoped, of course, that he would make it crisp and remove himself at an early date, for when the moment came for the balloon to go up I didn't want to be hampered by an audience. When you're pushing someone into a lake, nothing embarrasses you more than having the front seats filled up with goggling spectators.
  7. (of wine) having a refreshing amount of acidity; having less acidity than green wine, but more than a flabby one.
  8. (obsolete) Lively; sparking; effervescing.
    • (Can we date this quote by Beaumont and Fletcher and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      your neat crisp claret
  9. (dated) Curling in stiff curls or ringlets.
    crisp hair
  10. (obsolete) Curled by the ripple of water.
    • (Can we date this quote by William Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      You nymphs called Naiads, of the winding brooks […] Leave your crisp channels.
  11. (computing theory) Not using fuzzy logic; based on a binary distinction between true and false.

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun

crisp (plural crisps)

  1. (British) A thin slice of fried potato eaten as a snack.
  2. A baked dessert made with fruit and crumb topping
    Synonyms: crumble, crunch
  3. (food) Anything baked or fried and eaten as a snack
    kale crisps

Synonyms

Translations

thin slice of potato — see potato crisp

Verb

crisp (third-person singular simple present crisps, present participle crisping, simple past and past participle crisped)

  1. (transitive) To make crisp.
    to crisp bacon by frying it
  2. (intransitive) To become crisp.
  3. (transitive, dated) To curl; to form into ringlets, for example hair, or the nap of cloth
  4. (transitive, dated) to interweave, like the branches of trees.
  5. (intransitive, archaic) To undulate or ripple.
    • (Can we date this quote by Tennyson and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      to watch the crisping ripples on the beach
  6. (transitive, archaic) To cause to undulate irregularly, as crape or water; to wrinkle; to cause to ripple.
    • (Can we date this quote by Drayton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      The lover with the myrtle sprays / Adorns his crisped tresses.
    • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      The crisped brooks, / Rolling on orient pearl and sands of gold.

Derived terms

terms derived from crisp (verb)

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Translations

Anagrams

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