crisp / krisp/ • adj. 1. (of a substance) firm, dry, and brittle, esp. in a way considered pleasing or attractive: crisp bacon. ∎  (of a fruit or vegetable) firm, indicating freshness: crisp lettuce. ∎  (of the weather) cool, fresh, and invigorating. ∎  (of paper or cloth) smoothly and attractively stiff and uncreased. ∎  (of hair) having tight curls, giving an impression of rigidity.2. (of a way of speaking or writing) briskly decisive and matter-of-fact, without hesitation or unnecessary detail: they were cut off with a crisp “Thank you.”• n. 1. a dessert of fruit baked with a crunchy topping of brown sugar, butter, and flour: rhubarb crisp.2. (also potato crisp) British term for potato chip.• v. [tr.] give (something, esp. food) a crisp surface by placing it in an oven or on a grill. ∎  [intr.] (of food) acquire a crisp surface in this way. ∎ archaic curl into short, stiff, wavy folds or crinkles.PHRASES: burn something to a crisp burn something completely. DERIVATIVES: crisp·ly adv.crisp·ness n.

crisp curly OE.; wrinkled, rippled XIV; brittle but hard or firm XVI. OE. crisp, crips — L. crispus curled.