Dictionary

crisp en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• audio North Carolina
• (California, Southern) audio
• /kɹɪsp/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /kɹəsp/ (New-Zealand)
• /kɾɪsp/ (Scotland, Wales)

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”).

Meanings

1. (dated) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ Of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets; also (obsolete), of a person: having hair curled in this manner.
   • Bulls are more Criſpe vpon the Fore-head than Covves; […] 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “IX. Century. [Experiment Solitary, Touching the Differences of Liuing Creatures, Male & Female.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 852, page 226:
   • "The Stranger" was a dark, comely, youthful man's head, portentously looking out of a dark, shaded ground, and ambiguously smiling. There was no discoverable drapery; the dark head, with its crisp, curly, jetty hair, seemed just disentangling itself from out of curtains and clouds. 1852 July, Herman Melville, “Book XXVI. A Walk; a Foreign Portrait; a Sail. And the End.”, in Pierre: Or, The Ambiguities, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, section I, page 479:
   • [T]he short, soft, and crisp hair resembles Astrachan wool, […] 1860, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “Zanzibar and the Mrima Explained”, in The Lake Regions of Central Africa: A Picture of Exploration […], volume I, London: Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, →OCLC, page 34:
   • crisp hair
   • A certeyn lightning on his headtop gliſtered harmeleſſe. / His criſp locks frizeling, his temples prettelye ſtroaking. 1582, Virgil, “The Second Booke of Virgil His Aeneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC; republished as The First Four Books of the Æneid of Virgil, […], Edinburgh: [Edinburgh Printing Company], 1836, →OCLC, page 56:
2. (archaic, obsolete) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ Of a body of water, skin, etc.: having a surface which is rippled or wrinkled.
   • You Nimphs cald Nayades of yͤ vvindring brooks, / VVith your ſedg'd crovvnes, and euer-harmleſſe lookes, / Leaue your criſpe channels, and on this greene-Lane / Anſvvere your ſummons, Iuno do's command. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 15, column 1:
   • [T]hree times did they drinke / Vpon agreement of ſvvift Seuerns floud, / VVho then affrighted vvith their bloudie lookes, / Ran fearefully among the trembling reedes, / And hid his criſpe-head in the hollovv banke, / Bloud-ſtained vvith theſe valiant combatants, […] c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], signatures B.iii., recto – B.iii., verso:
   • [T]here was a fresh smell of seaweed, and the tiny ripples curled crisp and white along the pebbly bays. 1877, William Black, “An Inroad of Pale Faces”, in Green Pastures and Piccadilly. […], volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 239:
   • The elder ladies' wrinkles curled much crisper / As they beheld; […] 1823 August 29, [Lord Byron], Don Juan. Cantos IX.—X.—and XI., London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John Hunt, […], →OCLC, canto IX, stanza LXXVII, page 44:
3. (archaic) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ Synonym of crispate (“of a leaf: having curled, notched, or wavy edges”); crisped.
   • Feathered VVater Moſs. Branched. Leaves criſp, feathered, undulated, pointing tvvo vvays. 1770, John Berkenhout, “Class XXIV. Cryptogamia. […] II. Musci, Mosses.”, in Outlines of the Natural History of Great Britain and Ireland. […], volume II (Comprehending the Vegetable Kingdom), London: […] P[eter] Elmsly (successor to Mr. [Paul] Vaillant) […], →OCLC, paragraph 4, page 293:
4. (obsolete, qualifier:uncertain) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ Clear; also, shining, or smooth.
   • […] Fryer, you muſt leave / Your neat criſpe Clarret, and fall to your Syder / Avvhile; […] c. 1612–1630 (date written), B. J. F. [pseudonym; attributed to John Fletcher, George Chapman, Ben Jonson, Philip Massinger et al.], The Bloody Brother. A Tragedy, London: […] R[ichard] Bishop, for Thomas Allott, and Iohn Crook, […], published 1639, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii, signature G, verso:
   • One whyle hée at my necke dooth ſnatch / Another whyle my cléere criſp legges be ſtriueth for too catch, / Or trippes at mée: and euerywhere the vauntage he dooth watch. 1567, Ovid, “The Ninth Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 111, recto:
   • Common Mother [Nature] […] vvhoſe ſelfeſame Mettle […] Engenders the blacke Toad, and Adder blevv, / The gilded Nevvt, and eyeleſſe venom'd VVorme, / VVith all th'abhorred Births belovv Criſpe Heauen, / VVhereon Hyperions quickning fire doth ſhine: […] c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 92, column 1:
5. Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ Having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture; crumbly, friable, short.
   • Our customers in the produce department expect crisp apples and firm bananas.
   • The dry snuff is made of leaf toasted till crisp and pounded between two stones, mixed with a little magádil or saltpetre, sometimes scented with the heart of the plaintain-tree and stored in the tumbakira or gourd-box. 1860, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “Appendix I. Commerce, Imports and Exports.”, in The Lake Regions of Central Africa: A Picture of Exploration […], volume II, London: Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, →OCLC, page 419:
   • In Froſty vveather, Muſicke vvithin doores ſoundeth better. VVhich may be, by reaſon, not of the Diſpoſition of the Aire, but of the VVood or String of the Inſtrument, vvhich is made more Criſpe, and ſo more porous and hollovv: And vve ſee that Old Lutes ſound better than Nevv, for the ſame reaſon. 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “III. Century. [Experiments in Consort Touching Melioration of Sounds.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 231, page 63:
   • They drove along the crisp and crackling road. The hoar-frost on the hedges was beginning to melt; the sunlight had draped the bare twigs in a million of rainbow-jewels. 1877, William Black, “Friends and Neighbours”, in Green Pastures and Piccadilly. […], volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 71:
   • There is no flavour comparable, I will contend, to that of the crisp, tawny, well-watched, not over-roasted, crackling [of a suckling pig] […] 1823, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], “A Dissertation upon Roast Pig”, in Elia. Essays which have Appeared under that Signature in The London Magazine, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 283:
   • [F]rying in beef fat – known as dripping, suet or tallow – produces the crispest texture and richest flavour of all. 2011, Dan Lepard, “Doughnuts, Batters & Babas”, in David Whitehouse, editor, Short & Sweet: The Best of Home Baking, London: Fourth Estate, HarperCollinsPublishers, →ISBN, page 272:
   • Thanksgiving comes, with its glad thanks, and crisp turkeys;—but Pierre sits there in his room; […] 1852 July, Herman Melville, “Book XXII. The Flower-curtain Lifted from Before a Tropical Author; with Some Remarks on the Transcendental Flesh-brush Philosophy.”, in Pierre: Or, The Ambiguities, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, section IV, page 414:
   • [M]y vvife […] uſed every art to magnify the merit of her daughter. If the cakes at tea eat ſhort and criſp, they vvere made by Olivia: if the gooſeberry vvine vvas vvell knit, the gooſeberries vvere of her gathering: […] 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “The Family Use Art, which is Opposed with Still Greater”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume I, Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 158:
   • I Craſſhe [crush] as a thynge dothe that is cryſpe or britell bytwene ones tethe: le creſpe, prime cõiuga. 1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Verbes”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio cxcix, verso, column 2; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
   • The crisp snow crunched underfoot.
6. (figuratively) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ Not limp; firm, stiff; not stale or wilted; fresh; also, effervescent, lively.
   • And this piece of laurel is from Vaucluse! […] What an exquisite dry old, vital, young-looking, everlasting twig it is! It has been plucked nine months, and looks as hale and as crisp as if it would last ninety years. 1820 July 12, Leigh Hunt, “On Receiving a Sprig of Laurel from Vaucluse”, in The Indicator, volume I, number XL, London: […] Joseph Appleyard, […], published 1820, →OCLC, page 316:
   • A crisp fresh odour of starch wafted from the cardboard-stiff jacket which covered a well-built, Sunday athlete's frame. 1968, Dorothy Uhnak, chapter 8, in The Bait, London: Mysterious Press in association with Arrow Books, published 1988, →ISBN, page 101:
7. (figuratively) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ Of action, movement, a person's manner, etc.: precise and quick; brisk.
   • 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. 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter 15, in Jeeves in the Offing, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1963 (1975 printing), →OCLC, page 132:
   • An expert, given a certain query, will often come up with a crisp answer: “yes” or “no”.
   • 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. 1999, John [G.] Hampton, Lisa Emerson, B[ruce] R. MacKay, Writing Guidelines for Postgraduate Science Students, Palmerston North, New Zealand: Dunmore Press, →ISBN, page 130:
   • 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. 2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 – 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2025:
   • Transit Patrolman Alexander looked a little upset. He was seeing for the first time the translation of the crisp, cold official words of police procedure into reality and he was groping. 1968, Dorothy Uhnak, chapter 3, in The Bait, London: Mysterious Press in association with Arrow Books, published 1988, →ISBN, page 29:
   • Murray's eyes remembered the woman: small and crisp and clean and taking the little boy by the hand, carefully fussing over him, smiling at him. 1968, Dorothy Uhnak, chapter 18, in The Bait, London: Mysterious Press in association with Arrow Books, published 1988, →ISBN, page 212:
   • A very estimable young person, Miss Sturch […] such a well-regulated mind, and such a crisp touch on the piano; […] 1857, [William] Wilkie Collins, “Fifteen Years After”, in The Dead Secret. […], volume I, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC, book II, page 63:
8. (figuratively) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ Of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry; also, of a period of time: characterized by such weather.
   • In the long summer the climate much resembles that of Sindh; there are the same fiery suns playing upon the naked surface with a painful dazzle, cool crisp nights, and clouds of dust. 1860, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “The Geography and Ethnography of Ugogo,—The Third Region”, in The Lake Regions of Central Africa: A Picture of Exploration […], volume I, London: Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, →OCLC, page 297:
   • All these boys were in great spirits, and shouted to each other, until the broad fields were so full of merry music, that the crisp air laughed to hear it! 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 48:
9. (figuratively) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ Of fabric, paper, etc.: clean and uncreased.
   • He sat in a small room with benches where Santino had placed him, handed him the crisp, freshly withdrawn fifty-dollar bills, while Santino set about getting a bail bondsman. 1968, Dorothy Uhnak, chapter 5, in The Bait, London: Mysterious Press in association with Arrow Books, published 1988, →ISBN, page 72:
10. (figuratively) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ Of something heard or seen: clearly defined; clean, neat, sharp.
    • This new television set has a very crisp image.
11. (figuratively) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ Not using fuzzy logic; based on a binary distinction between true and false.
12. (figuratively) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ Of wine: having a refreshing amount of acidity; having less acidity than green wine, but more than a flabby one.

Forms

Antonyms

flabby

Deriveds

crispness · crispless · crisphead · crispily · Honeycrisp · semicrisp · crisply · ultracrisp · uncrisp · crispy · crispen · crispification · crispiness · crisp mint · supercrisp · crispbread

Relateds

crispated · crispate · crispation

Synonyms

crispate

Translations (79)

ru покрытый рябью (of a body of water, skin, etc.: having a surface which is rippled or wrinkled — see also rippled, wrinkled) · ru чёткий (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · fr croustillant (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · pdt jalsta (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · ru хру́пкий (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · bg къдрав (of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets) · fi siisti (of fabric, paper, etc.: clean and uncreased) · fi raikkaan hapokas (of wine: having a refreshing amount of acidity) · bg ронлив (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · pt fresco (of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry; of a period of time: characterized by such weather) · fi kähäräinen (of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets) · fr croquant (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · pt crocante (of something heard or seen: clearly defined — see also clean, neat, sharp, impeccable) · ru кудря́вый (of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets) · fi napakka (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · de knusprig (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · bg освежителен (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · de forsch (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · ga úr (of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry; of a period of time: characterized by such weather) · fi väreilevä (of a body of water, skin, etc.: having a surface which is rippled or wrinkled — see also rippled, wrinkled) · bg хрупкав (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · hu ropogós (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · ga úrbhriosc (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · fi raikas (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · tr kırışık (of a body of water, skin, etc.: having a surface which is rippled or wrinkled — see also rippled, wrinkled) · ru я́сный (of something heard or seen: clearly defined — see also clean, neat, sharp, impeccable) · pt animado (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · fi rapea (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · bg начупен (of a body of water, skin, etc.: having a surface which is rippled or wrinkled — see also rippled, wrinkled) · it croccante (of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets) · eo krakmaĉa (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · fi kähärä (of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets) · izh kirmiä (of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry; of a period of time: characterized by such weather) · ga briosc (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · bg отривист (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · fi terävä (not using fuzzy logic) · bg ясен (of something heard or seen: clearly defined — see also clean, neat, sharp, impeccable) · fi terävä (of something heard or seen: clearly defined — see also clean, neat, sharp, impeccable) · mi pakepakē (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · pt congelante (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · bg свеж (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · fi säkkärä (of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets) · tr körpe (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · ru я́сный (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · ru курчавый (of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets) · ru чёткий (of something heard or seen: clearly defined — see also clean, neat, sharp, impeccable) · tr gevrek (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · fr frisé (of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets) · ru лакони́чный (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · mi ngangahu (of something heard or seen: clearly defined — see also clean, neat, sharp, impeccable) · de knackig (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · fi ytimekäs (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · kk қытырлақ (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · de spröde (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · bg отчетлив (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · tr ayazlı (of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry; of a period of time: characterized by such weather) · pt festivo (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · mi mato (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · mi pakē (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · ota یوفقه (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · es crujiente (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · ga briosc (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · fi naseva (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · fr net (of something heard or seen: clearly defined — see also clean, neat, sharp, impeccable) · pdt reesch (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · fi karehtiva (of a body of water, skin, etc.: having a surface which is rippled or wrinkled — see also rippled, wrinkled) · bg хрускав (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · mi pūkatakata (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · fi ryppyinen (of a body of water, skin, etc.: having a surface which is rippled or wrinkled — see also rippled, wrinkled) · bg накъдрен (of a body of water, skin, etc.: having a surface which is rippled or wrinkled — see also rippled, wrinkled) · fi raikas (of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry; of a period of time: characterized by such weather) · fi rivakka (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · ru све́жий (not stale or wilted — see also fresh) · mi pakapaka (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture) · gd fionnar (of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry; of a period of time: characterized by such weather) · pt alegre (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · ru вьющийся (of hair: curling, especially in tight, stiff curls or ringlets) · fi ripeä (of action, movement, a person’s manner, etc.: precise and quick — see also brisk, precise) · eo facilrompa (having a consistency which is hard yet brittle, and in a condition to break with a sharp fracture)

crisp en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• audio North Carolina
• (California, Southern) audio
• /kɹɪsp/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /kɹəsp/ (New-Zealand)
• /kɾɪsp/ (Scotland, Wales)

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”).

Meanings

1. (Ireland, UK, in-plural) Senses relating to something brittle. ▸ In full potato crisp: a thin slice of potato which has been deep-fried until it is brittle and crispy, and eaten when cool; they are typically packaged and sold as a snack.
   • I was buying some crisps and pop when there was a noisy clatter on the bare floorboards and something hit my right heel. It was a white cue ball. 2009, Sid Waddell, “Satan’s Citadel”, in The Road Back Home: The Bittersweet Memoirs of a Geordie Coal Miner’s Son, London: Ebury Press, →ISBN, page 210:
   • Edward, give me another of those delicious olives. / What's that? Potato crisps? No, I can't endure them. 1949 August 22 (first performance), T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, The Cocktail Party: A Comedy, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.; Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.: Samuel French […], published 1950, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 11:
   • Turn you inside out and lick you like a crisp packet 2014 August 14, Joe Newman, Thom Green, Gus Unger-Hamilton, “Every Other Freckle”, in This Is All Yours (LIB166CD), performed by alt-J, London: Infectious Music, →OCLC:
   • As I sit in front of the TV angrily eating crisps, it comes to me. I will challenge her to a race. 2016, Neil Gibbons, Rob Gibbons; Steve Coogan, “Shirt Back On Now”, in Alan Partridge: Nomad, London: Trapeze, The Orion Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 47:
2. (Ireland, UK, broadly, in-plural) Senses relating to something brittle. ▸ In full potato crisp: a thin slice of potato which has been deep-fried until it is brittle and crispy, and eaten when cool; they are typically packaged and sold as a snack. ▸ Sometimes with a descriptive word: a crispy, savoury snack made of some other ingredient(s) (such as cornmeal or a vegetable) which is baked or deep-fried and eaten like a potato crisp.
   • When she’s not writing, Katie spends her time with her husband and two kids, and their dogs: Wotsit, the King Charles spaniel, and Skips, the three-legged rescue dog. (And yes, they are both named after crisps!) 2019, Katie Ginger, “About the Author”, in Snowflakes at Mistletoe Cottage, London: HQ, HarperCollinsPublishers, →ISBN:
   • kale crisps    prawn crisp
3. (Canada, US) Senses relating to something brittle. ▸ A type of baked dessert consisting of fruit topped with a crumbly mixture made with fat, flour, and sugar; a crumble.
4. (dated, slang) Senses relating to something brittle. ▸ A banknote; also, a number of banknotes collectively.
5. (also, figuratively) Senses relating to something brittle. ▸ Chiefly in to a crisp: a food item that has been overcooked, or a thing which has been burned, to the point of becoming charred or dried out.
   • And, oh, to think she should meet such a death at last!—a sitting over the red-hot stove at three o'clock in the morning and went to sleep and fell on it and was actually roasted! Not just frizzled up a bit, but literally roasted to a crisp! 1872, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “Riley—Newspaper Correspondent”, in Mark Twain’s Sketches. […], author’s edition, London: George Routledge & Sons, →OCLC, page 215:
   • He bears my name—Glendinning. I will disown it; were it like this dress, I would tear my name off from me, and burn it till it shriveled to a crisp! 1852 July, Herman Melville, “Book XII. Isabel, Mrs. Glendenning, the Portrait, and Lucy.”, in Pierre: Or, The Ambiguities, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, section II, pages 262–263:
6. (dialectal, qualifier:obsolete except UK) Senses relating to something brittle. ▸ The crispy rind of roast pork; crackling.
   • Alon[zo]. Anon they’l cut off ſlivers from us, as they did from the vvhole Ox, in St. James’s Fair. / Gonz[alo]. Oh, ’tis intollerable: methinks I hear a great ſhe Devil, call for [a] Groats vvorth of the Criſpe of my Countenance.—They are all for Griſtle. 1674 November 29 (probable first performance; Gregorian calendar), T. Duffett [i.e., Thomas Duffet], The Mock-tempest: Or The Enchanted Castle. […], London: […] William Cademan […], published 1675, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, page 19:
7. (obsolete) Senses relating to something curled. ▸ A curly lock of hair, especially one which is tightly curled.
   • They are proud, and vveare their hayre pretty long, and about their criſpes vvreath a valuable Shaſh or Tulipant; […] 1638, Tho[mas] Herbert, “Of Java Major”, in Some Yeares Travels Into Divers Parts of Asia and Afrique. […], 2nd edition, London: […] R[ichard] Bi[sho]p for Iacob Blome and Richard Bishop, →OCLC, book III, page 325:
8. (obsolete) Senses relating to something curled. ▸ A delicate fabric, possibly resembling crepe, especially used by women for veils or other head coverings in the past; also, a head covering made of this fabric.
   • [T]he nevv deuiſed names of Stuffes and Colours, Crispe, Tamet, Pluſh, Tabine, Caffa, […] 1619, Samuel Purchas, “Fashion Suted and Attired from the Head to the Foot”, in Purchas His Pilgrim. Microcosmus, or The Historie of Man. […], London: […] W[illiam] S[tansby] for Henry Fetherstone, →OCLC, page 268:
   • Vpon her head a ſiluer criſp ſhe pind, / Looſe vvauing on her ſhoulders vvith the vvind. 1584, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[The Historie of Iudith, in Forme of a Poeme. […].] The Fourth Booke of Iudith.”, in Tho[mas] Hudson, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, →OCLC, page 47:

Forms

Deriveds

crisplike · chili crisp · prawn crisp · piece and crisps · cheese crisp · crispwich · burn to a crisp

Synonyms

potato chip · crunch · chip · chip · potato chip

Translations (4)

bg подметка (food item that has been overcooked, or a thing which has been burned, to the point of becoming charred or dried out) · fi lastu (thin slice made of some other ingredient(s) which is baked or deep-fried and eaten as a snack like a potato crisp) · kk қытырлақ (thin slice made of some other ingredient(s) which is baked or deep-fried and eaten as a snack like a potato crisp) · bg чипс (thin slice made of some other ingredient(s) which is baked or deep-fried and eaten as a snack like a potato crisp)

crisp en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• audio North Carolina
• (California, Southern) audio
• /kɹɪsp/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /kɹəsp/ (New-Zealand)
• /kɾɪsp/ (Scotland, Wales)

Etymology

Partly from the following: * Etymology 2 sense 1: crisp (adjective; see etymology 1). * Etymology 2 sense 2: Late Middle English crispen (“to curl; of hair: to be curly”), from Old English cirpsian (“to curl, crisp”), from Latin crīspō (“to crimp; to curl”), from crispus (“of hair: crimped, curly”, adjective) (see etymology 1) + -ō (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

Meanings

1. (transitive) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ To make (something) firm yet brittle; specifically (cooking), to give (food) a crispy surface through frying, grilling, or roasting.
   • Eliza was fretful at his absences, and brought him his dinner crisped and dried from its long heating in the oven. 1929, Thomas Wolfe, chapter 17, in Look Homeward, Angel, New York: Modern Library, page 230:
   • c. 1752, Elizabeth Moxon, English Housewifry, Leeds: James Lister, “To make Hare Soop,” p. 6, […] put it into a Dish, with a little stew’d Spinage, crisp’d Bread, and a few forc’d-meat Balls.
   • to crisp bacon by frying it
2. (dated, figuratively, transitive) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ To add small amounts of colour to (something); to tinge, to tint.
   • The leaves of the chestnut were crisped with gold. 1925, Warwick Deeping, chapter 7, in Sorrell and Son, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, published 1926, page 66:
   • […] Monte Pellegrino, a huge, inordinate mass of pinkish rock, hardly crisped with the faintest vegetation, looming up to heaven from the sea. 1921, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Sea”, in Sea and Sardinia, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, →OCLC, page 55:
   • It was the form of a man of middle age, the hair white, but the beard only crisped with grey, 1876 December, Margaret Oliphant, “The Secret Chamber”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume 120, page 718:
3. (intransitive) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ To become firm yet brittle; specifically (cooking), of food: to form a crispy surface through frying, grilling, or roasting.
   • […] the air chilled at sunset, the ground crisped, and ere dusk, a hoar frost was insidiously stealing over growing grass and unfolding bud. 1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Briarmains”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 206:
   • […] the flick of the wrist with which one rolls the half-set wafer on to the handle of a wooden spoon and then flips it on to the drying rack to crisp. 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, New York: HarperCollins, Part 4, Chapter 2:
   • Her hair feels fake, like a wig, but I think it is just crisping up under the dye and Frizz-Ease. 2007, Anne Enright, chapter 24, in The Gathering, New York: Black Cat, page 154:
   • The dew is dried that drenched our hide / Or washed about our way; / And where we drank, the puddled bank / Is crisping into clay. 1895, Rudyard Kipling, “Letting in the Jungle”, in The Second Jungle Book, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, page 79:
   • to put celery into ice water to crisp
4. (dated, intransitive) Senses relating to brittleness. ▸ To make a sharp crackling or crunching sound.
   • […] everything had become so still that the crisping of the snow under foot might be heard nearly half a verst round. 1860, Nikolai Gogol, “The Night of Christmas Eve: A Legend of Little Russia”, in George Tolstoy, transl., Cossack Tales, London: Blackwood, page 1:
   • […] the wheels [of the carriage] made their little crisping over the fine metal of the driveway. 1904, Harry Leon Wilson, chapter 10, in The Seeker, New York: Doubleday, Page, page 239:
   • Jericho had placed in my hand a glass in which the bubbles broke with a crisping sound. 1948 November, Max Brand, “Honor Bright”, in The Cosmopolitan:
   • […] the hot pavement by the playing field where the trees crisp together. 1938, Lawrence Durrell, The Black Book, Open Road Media, published 2012, Book 2:
   • The same peculiar crisping or crackling sound […] was heard this morning in every direction […] the ‘noise accompanying the aurora,’ 1915, Elisha Kent Kane, chapter 16, in Adrift in the Arctic Ice Pack, New York: Outing Publishing Company, published 1916, page 291:
   • 1915, Clotilde Graves (as Richard Dehan), “A Dish of Macaroni” in Off Sandy Hook, New York: Frederick A. Stokes, p. 39, […] her light footsteps and crisping draperies retreated along the passage,
5. (dated, transitive) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ To curl (something, such as fabric) into tight, stiff folds or waves; to crimp, to crinkle; specifically, to form (hair) into tight curls or ringlets.
   • The mere story of their adventures […] on their road to and from school would have crisped a Western boy’s hair. 1900 December – 1901 October, Rudyard Kipling, chapter VII, in Kim, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1901, →OCLC, page 176:
   • For a time I was made to forget that my skin was dark and my hair crisped. 1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 23, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC, part II (Life as a Freeman), page 360:
   • 1630, Michael Drayton, The Muses Elizium, London: John Waterson, “The Description of Elizium,” The fift Nimphall, p. 44, The Louer with the Myrtle Sprayes Adornes his crisped Tresses:
   • […] the well known rhubarb of our gardens, with roundish crisped leaves. 1800, Thomas Pennant, “China”, in The View of Hindoostan, volume 3, London: Henry Hughs, page 172:
   • […] those crisped snaky golden locks / Which make such wanton gambols with the wind, c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
   • 1609, Douay-Rheims Bible, 2 Chronicles 4.5, […] the brimme therof was as it were the brimme of a chalice, or of a crisped lilie:
6. (dated, figuratively, transitive) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ To cause (a body of water) to undulate irregularly; to ripple.
   • […] when the breeze crisps the pool, you may see the image of the breakers, and a likeness of the foam. 1860, John Ruskin, chapter 1, in Modern Painters […], volume V, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, part IX (Of Ideas of Relation:—II. Of Invention Spiritual.), § 14, page 204:
   • […] he saw a flying squall darkening and crisping suddenly the tide. 1916, James Joyce, chapter IV, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 194:
   • 1818, Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 4, London: John Murray, stanza 53, p. 29, I would not their vile breath should crisp the stream Wherein that image shall for ever dwell;
   • […] the crisped Brooks, / Rowling on Orient Pearl and sands of Gold 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 237-238:
7. (dated, figuratively, transitive) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ To twist or wrinkle (a body part).
   • Phillotson saw his wife turn and take the note, and the bend of her pretty head as she read it, her lips slightly crisped, to prevent undue expression under fire of so many young eyes. 1895, Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure, New York: Harper, published 1896, Part 4, Chapter 3, p. 266:
   • Ah, here was a fellow coming! And instinctively he crisped his hands that were buried in his pockets, and ran over to himself his opening words. 1915, John Galsworthy, chapter 27, in The Freelands,, London: Heinemann, page 252:
   • […] he consider’d what an infinity of Muscles these laughing Rascals threw into a convulsive motion at the same time; whether we regard the spasms of the Diaphragm and all the muscles of respiration, the horrible rictus of the mouth, the distortion of the lower jaw, the crisping of the nose, twinkling of the eyes, or sphaerical convexity of the cheeks, with the tremulous succussion of the whole human body: 1741, Alexander Pope, chapter 10, in Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus, Dublin: George Faulkner, page 82:
   • They were not the ordinary pyramid-shaped teeth of most sharks. They were shaped like a man's fingers when they are crisped like claws. 1952 September 1, Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 101:
   • […] a slow torsion and crisping of all his nerves, beginning at his ankles, spread to every corner of his body till he had to shut his fists and teeth against the blind impulse to leap from his bed screaming. 1914, Frank Norris, chapter 15, in Vandover and the Brute, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, pages 242–243:
8. (UK, dated, dialectal, transitive) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ To fold (newly woven cloth).
9. (dated, intransitive) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ To become curled into tight, stiff folds or waves.
   • The Sauoie Lettuce hath very large leaues ſpread vpon the grounde, at the firſt comming vp broade, cut, or gaſht about the edges, criſping or curling lightly this or that way, not vnlike to the leaues of garden Endiue, […] 1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of Lettuce”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book II, page 239:
   • […] a few shreds of purple bloom on a brown, crisping tuft of self-heal 1972, Richard Adams, chapter 50, in Watership Down, New York: Scribner, published 1996, page 417:
10. (dated, figuratively, intransitive) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ Of a body of water: to ripple, to undulate.
    • […] the quick yielding of the waves that crisp and curl and ripple about my body. 1908, Helen Keller, “The Seeing Hand”, in The World I Live In,, New York: The Century Co., page 11:
    • 1832, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Lotos-Eaters,” Choric Song, V., in Poems, London: Moxon, p. 114, To watch the crisping ripples on the beach, And tender curving lines of creamy spray:
    • 1630, Henry Hawkins (translator), Certaine selected epistles of S. Hierome, Saint-Omer: The English College Press, “The Epitaphe of S. Paula,” p. 96, Hitherto we haue sayled with a fore-wind, & our sliding ship hath plowed vp the crisping waues of the Sea at ease.
11. (dated, figuratively, intransitive) Senses relating to curliness. ▸ Of a body part: to become twisted or wrinkled.
    • […] she gave no sign of the wave of repugnance that swept over her except that her fingers suddenly crisped. 1935, Edgar Wallace, Robert G. Curtis, chapter 10, in The Man Who Changed His Name,, London: Hutchinson:

Forms

Deriveds

uncrisp · crisping pin · crisping tongs · crisper · crisped · crisping iron · crisping

Synonyms

crackle · creak · crispen · rustle · crunch · crispen

Translations (2)

fi paistaa rapeaksi, rapeuttaa ((transitive) to make (something) firm yet brittle; to give (food) a crispy surface; (intransitive) to become firm yet brittle; of food: to form a crispy surface) · bg правя ронлив ((transitive) to make (something) firm yet brittle; to give (food) a crispy surface; (intransitive) to become firm yet brittle; of food: to form a crispy surface)