/ krɪsp; NAmE / adjective , noun , verb
■ adjective ( crisp·er , crisp·est ) (usually approving )
1.
( of food ) (also crispy ) pleasantly hard and dry :
Bake until the pastry is golden and crisp.
2.
( of fruit and vegetables ) (also crispy ) firm and fresh :
a crisp apple / lettuce
3.
( of paper or cloth ) fresh and clean; new and slightly stiff without any folds in it :
a crisp new $5 bill
a crisp white shirt
4.
( of the air or the weather ) pleasantly dry and cold :
a crisp winter morning
The air was crisp and clear and the sky was blue.
5.
( of snow, leaves, etc. ) firm or dry and making a pleasant noise when crushed :
deep, crisp snow
6.
( of sounds, images, etc. ) pleasantly clear and sharp :
The recording sounds very crisp, considering its age.
7.
(sometimes disapproving ) ( of a person's way of speaking ) quick and confident in a way that suggests that the person is busy or is not being friendly :
Her answer was crisp, and she gave no details.
► crisp·ly adverb :
crisply fried potatoes
'Take a seat,' she said crisply.
► crisp·ness noun [ U ]:
The salad had lost its crispness.
■ noun
(also poˌtato ˈcrisp ) (both BrE ) ( NAmE chip , poˈtato chip ) a thin round slice of potato that is fried until hard then dried and eaten cold. Crisps are sold in bags and have many different flavours.
•
IDIOMS
see burn verb
■ verb
[ v , vn ] to become or make sth crisp
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English (referring to hair in the sense curly ): from Latin crispus curled. Other senses may result from symbolic interpretation of the sound of the word.