frothy /frɒ θi, [AM ] frɔː θi/ (frothier , frothiest ) ADJ [usu ADJ n] A frothy liquid has lots of bubbles on its surface. □ …frothy milk shakes.
frown /fraʊ n/ (frowns , frowning , frowned ) VERB When someone frowns , their eyebrows become drawn together, because they are annoyed, worried, or puzzled, or because they are concentrating. □ [V ] Nancy shook her head, frowning. □ [V + at ] He frowned at her anxiously. □ [V -ing] …a frowning man. ● N‑COUNT Frown is also a noun. □ There was a deep frown on the boy's face.
▸ frown upon or frown on PHRASAL VERB If something is frowned upon or is frowned on people disapprove of it. □ [be V -ed P ] This practice is frowned upon as being wasteful. □ [V P n] Many teachers frown on such practices.
froze /froʊ z/ Froze is the past tense of freeze .
fro|zen /froʊ z ə n/
1 Frozen is the past participle of freeze .
2 ADJ If the ground is frozen it has become very hard because the weather is very cold. □ It was bitterly cold now and the ground was frozen hard. □ …the frozen bleakness of the Far North.
3 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Frozen food has been preserved by being kept at a very low temperature. □ …frozen desserts like ice cream.
4 ADJ If you say that you are frozen , or a part of your body is frozen , you are emphasizing that you feel very cold. [EMPHASIS ] □ He put one hand up to his frozen face. ● PHRASE Frozen stiff means the same as frozen . □ It was cold and damp; he pulled up his collar and was aware of being frozen stiff.
fruc|tose /frʊ ktoʊz/ N‑UNCOUNT Fructose is a sweet substance which occurs naturally in fruit and vegetables. It is sometimes used to make food sweeter.
fru|gal /fruː g ə l/
1 ADJ People who are frugal or who live frugal lives do not eat much or spend much money on themselves. □ She lives a frugal life. ● fru|gal|ity N‑UNCOUNT □ We must practise the strictest frugality and economy. ● fru|gal|ly ADV [ADV with v] □ We lived fairly frugally. □ He frugally saved various bits of the machine in carefully marked boxes.
2 ADJ A frugal meal is small and not expensive. □ The diet was frugaclass="underline" cheese and water, rice and beans.
fruit ◆◆◇ /fruː t/ (fruit or fruits , fruits , fruiting , fruited )
1 N‑VAR Fruit or a fruit is something which grows on a tree or bush and which contains seeds or a stone covered by a substance that you can eat. □ Fresh fruit and vegetables provide fibre and vitamins. □ …bananas and other tropical fruits. □ Try to eat at least one piece of fruit a day.
2 VERB If a plant fruits , it produces fruit. □ [V ] The scientists will study the variety of trees and observe which are fruiting.
3 N‑COUNT The fruits or the fruit of someone's work or activity are the good things that result from it. □ [+ of ] The team have really worked hard and are enjoying the fruits of that labour. □ The findings are the fruit of more than three years' research.
4 → see also dried fruit , forbidden fruit , kiwi fruit , passion fruit
5 PHRASE If the effort that you put into something or a particular way of doing something bears fruit , it is successful and produces good results. □ He was naturally disappointed when the talks failed to bear fruit.
6 PHRASE The first fruits or the first fruit of a project or activity are its earliest results or profits. □ [+ of ] This project is one of the first fruits of commercial co-operation between the two countries. USAGE fruit
Don’t use ‘fruits’ to talk about several oranges, bananas, etc. Use some fruit
. For example, don’t say ‘
frui t bowl (fruit bowls ) N‑COUNT A fruit bowl is a large bowl in which fruit is kept and displayed.
fruit|cake /fruː tke I k/ (fruitcakes ) also fruit cake
1 N‑VAR A fruitcake is a cake that contains raisins, currants, and other dried fruit.
2 N‑COUNT If you refer to someone as a fruitcake , you mean that they are mad or that their behaviour is very strange. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ]
frui t co ck|tail (fruit cocktails ) N‑VAR Fruit cocktail is a mixture of pieces of different kinds of fruit eaten as part of a meal.
frui t fly (fruit flies ) N‑COUNT Fruit flies are very small flies which eat fruit and rotting plants.
fruit|ful /fruː tfʊl/
1 ADJ Something that is fruitful produces good and useful results. □ We had a long, happy, fruitful relationship. □ The talks had been fruitful, but much remained to be done. ● fruit|ful|ly ADV [ADV with v] □ …taking their skills where they can be applied most fruitfully.
2 ADJ Fruitful land or trees produce a lot of crops. □ …a landscape that was fruitful and lush.
frui|tion /fru I ʃ ə n/ N‑UNCOUNT [usu to N ] If something comes to fruition , it starts to succeed and produce the results that were intended or hoped for. [FORMAL ] □ These plans take time to come to fruition.