fritter

fritter
    n 1: small quantity of fried batter containing fruit or meat or
         vegetables
    v 1: spend frivolously and unwisely; "Fritter away one's
         inheritance" [syn: {fritter}, {frivol away}, {dissipate},
         {shoot}, {fritter away}, {fool}, {fool away}]
    

Fritter \Frit"ter\, n. [OR. fritour, friture, pancake, F.
   friture frying, a thing fried, from frire to fry. See {Far},
   v. t.]
   1. A small quantity of batter, fried in boiling lard or in a
      frying pan. Fritters are of various kinds, named from the
      substance inclosed in the batter; as, apple fritters, clam
      fritters, oyster fritters.
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   2. A fragment; a shred; a small piece.
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            And cut whole giants into fritters.   --Hudibras.
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   {Corn fritter}. See under {Corn}.
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Fritter \Frit"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Frittered}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Frittering}.]
   1. To cut, as meat, into small pieces, for frying.
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   2. To break into small pieces or fragments.
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            Break all nerves, and fritter all their sense.
                                                  --Pope.
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   {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.
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23 Moby Thesaurus words for "fritter":
      apple fritter, beignet, beignet aux pommes, bismarck, blow,
      cast away, consume, cruller, dissipate, doughnut, fastnacht,
      fool away, friedcake, fritter away, idle away, misspend, olykoek,
      raised doughnut, sinker, squander, throw away, twister, waste