Break all nerves, and fritter all their sense.
Pope.
To fritter away, to diminish; to pare off; to reduce to nothing by
taking away a little at a time; also, to waste piecemeal; as, to
fritter away time, strength, credit, etc.
Frit"ting (?), n. [See Frit to expose to heat.] The formation of frit
or slag by heat with but incipient fusion.
Friv"o*lism (?), n. Frivolity. [R.] Pristley.
Fri*vol"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Frivolities (#). [Cg. F. frivolitÈ. See
Frivolous.] The condition or quality of being frivolous; also, acts or
habits of trifling; unbecoming levity of disposition.
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Friv"o*lous (?), a. [L. frivolus; prob. akin to friare to rub, crumble,
E. friable: cf. F. frivole.]
1. Of little weight or importance; not worth notice; slight; as, a
frivolous argument. Swift.
2. Given to trifling; marked with unbecoming levity; silly; interested
especially in trifling matters.
His personal tastes were low and frivolous.
Macaulay.
Syn. -- Trifling; trivial; slight; petty; worthless.
-- Friv"o*lous*ly, adv. -- Friv"o*lous*ness, n.
Friz (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Frizzed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Frizzing
(?).] [Cf. F. friser to curl, crisp, frizzle, to raise the nap (on
certain stuffs); prob.akin to OFries. frisle hair of the head. Cf.
Frieze kind of cloth.] [Written also frizz.] 1. To curl or form into
small curls, as hair, with a crisping pin; to crisp.
With her hair frizzed short up to her ears.
Pepys.
2. To form into little burs, prominences, knobs, or tufts, as the nap
of cloth.
3. (Leather Manufacture) To soften and make of even thickness by
rubbing, as with pumice stone or a blunt instrument.
Frizzing machine. (a) (Fabrics) A machine for frizzing the surface of
cloth. (b) (Wood Working) A bench with a revolving cutter head slightly
protruding above its surface, for dressing boards.
Friz, n.; pl. Frizzes (&?;). That which is frizzed; anything crisped or
curled, as a wig; a frizzle. [Written also frizz.]
He [Dr. Johnson], who saw in his glass how his wig became his face
and head, might easily infer that a similar fullbottomed,
well-curled friz of words would be no less becoming to his
thoughts.
Hare.
Frize (?), n. (Arch.) See 1st Frieze.
Friz"el (?), a. (Firearms) A movable furrowed piece of steel struck by
the flint, to throw sparks into the pan, in an early form of flintlock.
Knight.
Fri*zette" (?), n. [F. frisette curl.] A curl of hair or silk; a pad of
frizzed hair or silk worn by women under the hair to stuff it out.
Frizz (?), v. t. & n. See Friz, v. t. & n.
Friz"zle (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Frizzled (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Frizzling (?).] [Dim. of friz.] To curl or crisp, as hair; to friz; to
crinkle. Gay.
To frizzle up, to crinkle or crisp excessively.
Friz"zle, n. A curl; a lock of hair crisped. Milton.
Friz"zler` (?), n. One who frizzles.
{ Friz"zly (?), Friz"zy (?), } a. Curled or crisped; as, frizzly, hair.
Fro (fr), adv. [OE. fra, fro, adv. & prep., Icel. fr, akin to Dan. fra
from, E. from. See From.] From; away; back or backward; -- now used
only in opposition to the word to, in the phrase to and fro, that is,
to and from. See To and fro under To. Milton.
Fro, prep. From. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Frock (?), n. [F. froc a monk's cowl, coat, garment, LL. frocus,
froccus, flocus, floccus, fr. L. floccus a flock of wool; hence orig.,
a flocky cloth or garment; cf. L. flaccus flabby, E. flaccid.] 1. A
loose outer garment; especially, a gown forming a part of European
modern costume for women and children; also, a coarse shirtlike garment
worn by some workmen over their other clothes; a smock frock; as, a
marketman's frock.
2. A coarse gown worn by monks or friars, and supposed to take the
place of all, or nearly all, other garments. It has a hood which can be
drawn over the head at pleasure, and is girded by a cord.
Frock coat, a body coat for men, usually double-breasted, the skirts
not being in one piece with the body, but sewed on so as to be somewhat
full. -- Smock frock. See in the Vocabulary.
Frock, v. t. 1. To clothe in a frock.