fritter away

frit·ter a·way

F f

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [frit-er uh-wey]
- /ˈfrɪt ər əˈweɪ/
- /ˈfrɪt.ər əˈweɪ/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [frit-er uh-wey]
- /ˈfrɪt ər əˈweɪ/

Definitions of fritter away words

verb with object fritter away to squander or disperse piecemeal; waste little by little (usually followed by away): to fritter away one's money; to fritter away an afternoon. 1
verb with object fritter away to break or tear into small pieces or shreds. 1
verb without object fritter away to dwindle, shrink, degenerate, etc. (often followed by away): to watch one's fortune fritter away. 1
verb without object fritter away to separate or break into fragments: a plastic material having a tendency to fritter. 1
noun fritter away a small piece, fragment, or shred. 1
transitivephrasal verb fritter away waste, squander 1

See all 8 definitions of fritter away

Information block about the term

Origin of fritter away

First appearance:

before 1720

One of the 49% newest English words

1720-30; earlier fitter, derivative of fit (Old English fitt) a part

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Fritter away

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Fritter away

fritter away popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 79% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

fritter away usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for fritter away

verb fritter away

blow — When a wind or breeze blows, the air moves.
deplete — To deplete a stock or amount of something means to reduce it.
dissipate — to scatter in various directions; disperse; dispel.
fritter — to squander or disperse piecemeal; waste little by little (usually followed by away): to fritter away one's money; to fritter away an afternoon.
misspend — to spend wrongly or unwisely; squander; waste.

All 9 Synonyms of fritter away