Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Crisp

Crisp (kr?sp) , adjective

[Anglo-Saxon crisp, from Latin crispus; compare carpere to pluck, card (wool), and English harvest. Compare Crape.]

1.
Curling in stiff curls or ringlets; as, crisp hair.
2.
Curled with the ripple of the water. [Poetic]
You nymphs called Naiads, of the winding brooks... Leave jour crisp channels. — Shakespeare
3.
Brittle; friable; in a condition to break with a short, sharp fracture; as, crisp snow.
The cakes at tea ate short and crisp. — Goldsmith
4.
Possessing a certain degree of firmness and freshness; in a fresh, unwilted condition.
It [laurel] has been plucked nine months, and yet looks as hale and crisp as if it would last ninety years. — Leigh Hunt
5.
Lively; sparking; effervescing.
Your neat crisp claret. — Beau. & Fl
6.
Brisk; crackling; cheerful; lively.
The snug, small room, and the crisp fire. — Dickens

Crisp (kr?spt) , transitive verb

[Latin crispare, from crispus. See Crisp. a. ]

1.
To curl; to form into ringlets, as hair, or the nap of cloth; to interweave, as the branches of trees.
2.
To cause to undulate irregularly, as crape or water; to wrinkle; to cause to ripple. Compare Crimp.
The lover with the myrtle sprays Adorns his crisped tresses. — Drayton
Along the crisped shades and bowers. — Milton
The crisped brooks, Rolling on orient pearl and sands of gold. — Milton
3.
To make crisp or brittle, as in cooking.
Collocations (2)
Crisping iron , an instrument by which hair or any textile fabric is crisped.
Crisping pin , the simplest form of crisping iron. — Is. iii. 22

Crisp , intransitive verb

To undulate or ripple. Compare Crisp, transitive verb
To watch the crisping ripples on the beach. — Tennuson

Crisp , noun

That which is crisp or brittle; the state of being crisp or brittle; as, burned to a crisp; specifically, the rind of roasted pork; crackling.