Library / English Dictionary

FRANK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A smooth-textured sausage of minced beef or pork usually smoked; often served on a bread roll

Synonyms:

dog; frank; frankfurter; hot dog; hotdog; weenie; wiener; wienerwurst

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("frank" is a kind of...):

sausage (highly seasoned minced meat stuffed in casings)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "frank"):

Vienna sausage (short slender frankfurter usually with ends cut off)

Holonyms ("frank" is a part of...):

hot dog; hotdog; red hot (a frankfurter served hot on a bun)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A member of the ancient Germanic peoples who spread from the Rhine into the Roman Empire in the 4th century

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Frank" is a kind of...):

European (a native or inhabitant of Europe)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Frank"):

Salian; Salian Frank (a member of the tribe of Franks who settled in the Netherlands in the 4th century AD)

Instance hyponyms:

Clovis; Clovis I (king of the Franks who unified Gaul and established his capital at Paris and founded the Frankish monarchy; his name was rendered as Gallic 'Louis' (466-511))

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion

Example:

a point-blank accusation

Synonyms:

blunt; candid; forthright; frank; free-spoken; outspoken; plainspoken; point-blank; straight-from-the-shoulder

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

direct (straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action)

Derivation:

frankness (the trait of being blunt and outspoken)

frankness (the quality of being honest and straightforward in attitude and speech)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Clearly manifest; evident

Example:

frank enjoyment

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

obvious (easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Exempt by means of an official pass or letter, as from customs or other checks

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "frank" is one way to...):

excuse; exempt; let off; relieve (grant exemption or release to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Stamp with a postmark to indicate date and time of mailing

Synonyms:

frank; postmark

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "frank" is one way to...):

stamp (to mark, or produce an imprint in or on something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Would it not be better to be frank?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I’ll be perfectly frank with you, and if it suits you it will suit me very well.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To my Publishers, for the aid their tact, their energy, their practical sense and frank liberality have afforded an unknown and unrecommended Author.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Yes, when you have written the letter, I will take it to my father to frank.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Now, it so happened that in spite of Emma's resolution of never marrying, there was something in the name, in the idea of Mr. Frank Churchill, which always interested her.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She prized the frank, the open-hearted, the eager character beyond all others.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

It will be so ridiculous to see all his letters directed to him with an M.P. But do you know, he says, he will never frank for me?

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

It seemed, rather, a frank and open countenance, which frankness or openness was enhanced by the fact that he was smooth-shaven.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

An abscess is characterized histologically by sheet-like infiltration of neutrophils, with a cavity formed in areas of frank tissue destruction.

(Abscess of the Mouse Prostate Gland, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

A team led by Frank Postberg and Nozair Khawaja of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, continues to examine the makeup of the ejected ice and has recently identified fragments of large, complex organic molecules.

(Complex Organics Bubble up from Enceladus, NASA)