adjective
fresh·er, fresh·est a. New to one's experience; not encountered before: fresh evidence.
b. Unusual or different:
a fresh approach on the problem. See Synonyms at
new.
a. Recently made, produced, or harvested; not stale or spoiled: fresh bread.
b. Not preserved, as by canning, smoking, or freezing: fresh vegetables.
- Not saline or salty: fresh water.
a. Not yet used or soiled; clean: a fresh sheet of paper.
b. Free from impurity or pollution; pure: fresh air.
c. Not dull or faded: a fresh memory.
d. Newly applied, especially to restore or enhance: a fresh coat of paint.
- Fairly strong and often cool; brisk: a fresh wind.
a. Having just arrived: fashions fresh from Paris.
b. Untried or trained but not experienced: fresh volunteers.
a. Revived or reinvigorated; refreshed: I was fresh as a daisy after the nap.
b. Rested and ready for a long ride. Used of horses.
c. Having the glowing or unspoiled appearance of youth: a fresh complexion.
- Having recently calved and therefore producing milk. Used of a cow.
- Informal Lacking respectful restraint; impudent: Don't get fresh with me!
- Slang Excellent; first-rate.
adverb
Recently; newly: fresh out of milk; muffins baked fresh daily.
noun
- The early part: the fresh of the day.
- A freshet.
Origin of fresh
Middle English
from Old English
fersc pure, not salty and from Old French
freis (
feminine fresche )
new, recent of Germanic origin Related Forms:
Adjective (comparative fresher, superlative freshest)
- Newly produced or obtained.
- He followed the fresh hoofprints to find the deer.
- I seem to make fresh mistakes every time I start writing.
- Not cooked, dried, frozen, or spoiled.
- After taking a beating in the boxing ring, the left side of his face looked like fresh meat.
- I brought home from the market a nice bunch of fresh spinach leaves straight from the farm.
- a glass of fresh milk
- (of plant material) Still green and not dried.
- Refreshing or cool.
- What a nice fresh breeze.
- (of water) Without salt; not saline.
- After a day at sea it was good to feel the fresh water of the stream.
- Rested; not tired or fatigued.
- In a raw or untried state; uncultured; unpracticed.
- a fresh hand on a ship
- youthful; florid
- (computing, of a release package or software installation) Having only the files and settings of a specific release of the software package; without updates or upgrades that were released subsequent to the release of a specific version.
- A fresh installation of Windows XP has Internet Explorer version 6.
- QA uses a fresh copy of the old version to test backward-compatibility of new add-ons.
Noun (plural freshes)
- A rush of water, along a river or onto the land; a flood.
- A stream or spring of fresh water.
- The mingling of fresh water with salt in rivers or bays, as by means of a flood of fresh water flowing toward or into the sea.
Origin From Middle English fresch, fersch, from Old English fersc (“fresh, pure, sweet”), from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (“fresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *preisk- (“fresh”). Cognate with Scots fresch (“fresh”), West Frisian farsk (“fresh”), Dutch vers (“fresh”), Walloon frexh (“fresh”), German frisch (“fresh”), French frais (“fresh”), Danish frisk (“fresh”), fersk, Icelandic ferskur (“fresh”), Lithuanian prėskas (“unflavoured, tasteless, fresh”), Russian пресный (pr'ésnyj, “sweet, fresh, unleavened, tasteless”).
Adjective (comparative fresher, superlative freshest)
- Rude, cheeky, or inappropriate; presumptuous; disrespectful; forward.
- No one liked his fresh comments.
- Sexually aggressive or forward; prone to caress too eagerly; overly flirtatious.
- Hey, don't get fresh with me!
Origin 1848, US slang, probably from German frech (“impudent, cheeky, insolent”), from Middle High German vrech (“bold, brave, lively”), from Old High German freh (“greedy, eager, avaricious, covetous”), from Proto-Germanic *frekaz (“greedy, outrageous, courageous, capable, active”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pereg- (“to be quick, twitch, sprinkle, splash”). Cognate with Old English frec (“greedy; eager, bold, daring; dangerous”). More at freak.
