crisp

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
crisp/krɪsp/

▶adjective

• 1 firm, dry, and brittle, especially in a way considered pleasing.

  ■ (of hair) having tight curls.

• 2 (of the weather) cool, fresh, and invigorating.

• 3 (of a way of speaking) briskly decisive and matter-of-fact.

▶noun (also potato crisp) Brit. a wafer-thin slice of potato fried until crisp and eaten as a snack. ▶verb

• 1 give (food) a crisp surface by placing it in an oven or grill.

• 2 archaic curl into short, stiff, wavy folds or crinkles.

– phrases
burn to a crisp burn so as to leave only a charred remnant.

– derivatives
crispiness noun,
crisply adverb,
crispness noun,
crispy adjective (crispier, crispiest).

– origin OE: from L. crispus ‘curled’.