English

Adjective

fresh ‎(comparative fresher, superlative freshest)

1. Newly produced or obtained.

   He followed the fresh hoofprints to find the deer.

   I seem to make fresh mistakes every time I start writing.

2. 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

3. (of plant material) Still green and not dried.
   • 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page vii

     With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]

4. Refreshing or cool.

   What a nice fresh breeze.

5. (of water) Without salt; not saline.

   After a day at sea it was good to feel the fresh water of the stream.

   • a. 1628, Sir Francis Drake (?), The World Encompassed, Nicholas Bourne (publisher, 1628), page 49:

     There we made our ſhip faſt with foure ropes, in ſmooth water, and the freſh water ranne downe out of the hill into the ſea, […]

   • 1820, William Scoresby, An Account of the Arctic Regions, Archibald Constable & Co., page 230:

     When dissolved, it produces water sometimes perfectly fresh, and sometimes saltish; […]

   • 2009, Adele Pillitteri, Maternal and Child Health Nursing, Sixth Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, ISBN 9781582559995, page 1557:

     Additional changes that occur when water enters the lungs depend on whether the water is fresh or salt.

6. Rested; not tired or fatigued.
   • 2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC:

     Before the match, Hodgson had expressed the hope that his players would be fresh rather than rusty after an 18-day break from league commitments because of two successive postponements.

7. In a raw or untried state; uncultured; unpracticed.

   a fresh hand on a ship

8. youthful; florid
   • Shakespeare

     these fresh nymphs

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:inexperienced

Antonyms

• stale

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

fresh ‎(not comparable)

1. recently; just recently; most recently

   We are fresh out of milk.

Noun

fresh ‎(plural freshes)

1. A rush of water, along a river or onto the land; a flood.
   • 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett (Nebraska, 1987), page 21:

     They went on very well with their work until it was nigh done, when there came the second epistle to Noah's fresh, and away went their mill, shot, lock, and barrel.

2. A stream or spring of fresh water.
   • Shakespeare

     He shall drink naught but brine; for I'll not show him / Where the quick freshes are.

3. 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.
   • 1705, Robert Beverley, Jr., History and Present State of Virginia:

     When they cross any great Water, or violent Fresh, or Torrent, they throw Tobacco, Puccoon, Peak, or some other valuable thing, that they happen to have about there, to intreat the Spirit presiding there, to grant them a safe passage. It is call'd a Fresh, when after very great Rains, or (as we suppose) after a great Thaw of the Snow and Ice lying upon the Mountains Page 43 to the North West, the Water descends, in such abundance into the Rivers, that they overflow the Banks which bound their Streams at other times.

Etymology 2

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”) and Danish fræk ‎(“naughty”). More at freak.

Adjective

fresh ‎(comparative fresher, superlative freshest)

1. Rude, cheeky, or inappropriate; presumptuous; disrespectful; forward.

   No one liked his fresh comments.

2. Sexually aggressive or forward; prone to caress too eagerly; overly flirtatious.

   Hey, don't get fresh with me!

Derived terms

Translations

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:cheeky

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