— Frenchness , n.
/french/ , adj.
1. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of France, its inhabitants, or their language, culture, etc.: French cooking.
n.
2. the people of France and their direct descendants.
3. a Romance language spoken in France, parts of Belgium and Switzerland, and in areas colonized after 1500 by France. Abbr.: F
v.t.
4. ( often l.c. ) to prepare (food) according to a French method.
5. ( often l.c. ) to cut (snap beans) into slivers or thin strips before cooking.
6. ( often l.c. ) to trim the meat from the end of (a rib chop).
7. ( often l.c. ) to prepare (meat) for cooking by slicing it into strips and pounding.
8. Slang. to short-sheet (a bed).
9. ( often l.c. ) Slang ( vulgar ). to give oral stimulation of the penis or vulva.
[ bef. 1150; ME Frensh, French, OE Frenc ( i ) sc. See FRANK, -ISH 1 ]
/french/ , n.
1. Alice ( "Octave Thanet" ), 1850-1934, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.
2. Daniel Chester , 1850-1931, U.S. sculptor.
3. Sir John Denton Pinkstone /den"tn pingk"stohn, -steuhn/ , 1st Earl of Ypres , 1852-1925, English field marshal in World War I.
4. Marilyn , born 1929, U.S. novelist and nonfiction writer.