Frisk

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /fɹɪsk/

Definitions

1. To conduct a light and playful examination for hidden items, often involving a gentle search of someone's person for security reasons
2. To perform a lively and playful search for concealed objects, typically by patting down a person or area
3. To engage in a playful and lively search for hidden objects, usually by gently patting down a person to check for items of concern

Etymology: The verb "frisk" began as an adjective meaning lively or frisky, and it is a close relative of "fresh" and "fresco." Its ancestor, Proto-Germanic *friskaz, meant "fresh," and that sense passed through Middle French "frisque," meaning lively, jolly, or spruce, before reaching English in the Middle English period as "frisk." Something that was fresh and bright in that sense was full of spirit and motion. The verb came later, from the adjective, and it kept that sense of liveliness. To frisk was to frolic or skip about, and only later did it take on the sense of searching a person by patting them down. A second, less certain account links the word to Old French "fricque," meaning smart, strong, or playful, which may have come from a Gothic word meaning greedy or hungry, and so connects "frisk" with "freak" and German "frech" ("insolent").

Synonyms: search, pat down, explore, probe, scrutinize

Antonyms: ignore, neglect, overlook