A french fry is a long, thin piece of potato that’s fried until crisp, usually in deep oil. In U.S. English, people often just say fries.

Quick Scoop

  • Common shape: long, thin potato strips.
  • Common cooking method: deep-fried until brown and crisp.
  • Regional naming: in the U.S. it’s usually “french fry” or “fries,” while in the U.K. the similar food is usually called “chips.”

In plain words

Think of it as a potato cut into stick-like pieces, then fried. Some fries are skinny, some are thick, but they all belong to the same broad family of fried potatoes.

TL;DR

A french fry is basically a fried potato stick.