crisp

/krɪsp/

/krɪsp/

Other forms: crisped; crisps; crisping; crisper; crispest

Something that's crisp is thin, dry, and breakable. Unless they're stale, most crackers are crisp.

Gingersnaps are crisp, and so is toast — in fact, crisp often describes food, although crunchy snow and dry, brown leaves are also crisp. To crisp something is to cook or dry it until it's brittle, and when a voice is crisp, it's abrupt and no-nonsense. A crisp fall morning is fresh and cold. In Old English, crisp meant "curly," from the Latin crispus, "curled." The "brittle" definition is probably imitative, the word sounding like its meaning.

Definitions of crisp

1. adjective

   tender and brittle
   “crisp potato chips”

   synonyms: crispy, crunchy

   tender

   easy to cut or chew
2. noun

   a thin crisp slice of potato fried in deep fat
   synonyms: Saratoga chip, chip, potato chip

   type of:

   snack food

   food for light meals or for eating between meals
3. verb

   make brown and crisp by heating
   “crisp potatoes”

   synonyms: crispen, toast

   type of:

   heat, heat up

   make hot or hotter
4. adjective

   (of something seen or heard) clearly defined
   “the crisp snap of dry leaves underfoot”

   synonyms: sharp

   distinct

   easy to perceive; especially clearly outlined
5. adjective

   brief and to the point; effectively cut short
   “a crisp retort”

   synonyms: curt, laconic, terse

   breviloquent, concise

   expressing much in few words
6. adjective

   pleasingly firm and fresh
   “crisp lettuce”

   synonyms:

   fresh

   recently made, produced, or harvested
7. adjective

   pleasantly cold and invigorating
   “crisp clear nights and frosty mornings”

   synonyms: frosty, nipping, nippy, snappy

   cold

   having a low or inadequate temperature or feeling a sensation of coldness or having been made cold by e.g. ice or refrigeration
8. adjective

   (of hair) in small tight curls
   synonyms: frizzly, frizzy, kinky, nappy

   curly

   (of hair) having curls or waves
9. verb

   make wrinkles or creases on a smooth surface; make a pressed, folded or wrinkled line in
   synonyms: crease, crinkle, ruckle, scrunch, scrunch up, wrinkle

   types:

   cockle, crumple, knit, pucker, rumple

   to gather something into small wrinkles or folds

   pucker, ruck, ruck up

   become wrinkled or drawn together

   type of:

   fold, fold up, turn up

   bend or lay so that one part covers the other