Definition of "fritter"

fritter

/ˈfɹɪtə(ɹ)/

noun
plural fritters
1. A dish made by deep-frying food coated in batter.
2. A fragment; a shred; a small piece.
  Quotations
  And cut whole giants into fritters.
  1662, [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge: University Press, 1905
verb
third-person singular simple present fritters, present participle frittering, simple past and past participle frittered
1. (intransitive, often with about, around, or away) To squander or waste time, money, or other resources; e.g. occupy oneself idly or without clear purpose, to tinker with an unimportant part of a project, to dally, sometimes as a form of procrastination.
2. (transitive) To sinter.
3. (transitive) To cut (meat etc.) into small pieces for frying.
4. (transitive) To break into small pieces or fragments.
  Quotations
  Break all nerves, and fritter all their sense.
  1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin, London: […] A. Dodd