FRILL • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Frill

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/frɪl/ Listen

noun

Frill n. (Zool.)

(a)

A ruffing of a bird's feathers from cold.

(b)

A ruffle, consisting of a fold of membrane, of hairs, or of feathers, around the neck of an animal. See Frilled lizard (below).

(c)

A similar ruffle around the legs or other appendages of animals.

(d)

A ruffled varex or fold on certain shells.

A border or edging secured at one edge and left free at the other, usually fluted or crimped like a very narrow flounce.

Hence: Something superfluous, such as an ornament, or an additional function on a device or in a system not essential to the basic operation. Commonly used in the phrase no frills, used adjectively to indicate a fully functional but economical device or service; as, an economical no-frills airline.

verb

Frill v. t. To provide or decorate with a frill or frills; to turn back. in crimped plaits; as, to frill a cap.

frill v. i. (past & past part. frilled; pres. part. frilling)

To shake or shiver as with cold; as, the hawk frills.

(Photog.) To wrinkle; said of the gelatin film.

See images of 'Frill'

Etymology of 'Frill'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Frill" Quotes from Famous Books

... her lashes and played with the frill on the wrist of the long chiffon sleeve of her blouse. Her eyes beneath their concealing lashes kindled. Her mouth grew sweet and sensitive, her whole attitude became shy and alluring. She sat and drooped before ...

— The Witness • Grace Livingston Hill Lutz

... it was as "free" a remark as he had ever made to her—that she looked, with her ruff and other matters, like Queen Elizabeth; and it had after this in truth been his fancy that, as a consequence of that tenderness and an acceptance of the idea, the form of this special tribute to the "frill" had grown slightly more marked. The connexion, as he sat there and let his imagination roam, was to strike him as vaguely pathetic; but there it all was, and pathetic was doubtless in the conditions the best ...

— The Ambassadors • Henry James

... almost o'er, Her day of rest begun. Her face is black as darkest night, Her form is bent and thin, And o'er her bony visage tight Is stretched her wrinkled skin. Her dress is scant and mean; yet still About her ebon face There flows a soft and creamy frill Of costly Mechlin lace. What means the contrast strange and wide? Its like is seldom seen— A pauper's aged face beside The laces of a queen. Her mien is stately, proud, and high, And yet her look is ...

— The Wit of Women - Fourth Edition • Kate Sanborn

... Peter claimed Kate once more. His long face was once more thrust against her arm, and his soft lips began to nibble at the wrist frill of her sleeve. She turned to him with a laugh, and placed an arm about his ...

— The Law-Breakers • Ridgwell Cullum

... She remained enchantingly intact, unaffected, except for an added glint, an added refinement. To-day's temperature justified the adoption of summer attire, of those thin, clear-coloured silk and muslin fabrics so deliciously to her taste. She wore a lavender dress. It was new, every pleat and frill inviolate, at their crispest and most uncrumpled. In this she found a fund of permanent satisfaction steeling her to ...

— Deadham Hard • Lucas Malet

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