fry cook

Meaning

1. 1nouncountableAmerican

   A person whose job is to cook food on a grill or in a fryer, usually in a diner or fast-food restaurant.

   Grammar: Refers to a job: he works as a fry cook; also written short-order cook in a similar sense.

   Patterns

   • work as a fry cook
   • a fry cook at a diner

   He got his first job as a fry cook at a roadside diner.

   The fry cook flipped pancakes and eggs while orders piled up.

   She spent two summers as a fry cook to pay for college.

Word forms

Common combinations

work as a fry cook

My brother works as a fry cook on weekends.

diner fry cook

The diner fry cook knew every regular's order.

hire a fry cook

The restaurant needs to hire a fry cook before the summer rush.

night-shift fry cook

The night-shift fry cook made breakfast for the truckers at 3 a.m.

experienced fry cook

An experienced fry cook can handle twenty orders at once.

Synonyms and how they differ

short-order cook

A short-order cook prepares quick meals of many kinds, whereas a fry cook is focused on fried or grilled food.

line cook

A line cook works at one station in a larger professional kitchen, a wider and more skilled role than a basic fry cook.

grill cook

A grill cook handles the grill specifically, while a fry cook may work the fryer too.

chef

A chef plans menus and leads a kitchen, so it is a higher post than fry cook.

Word family

fry verb

to cook in hot fat

cook noun

a person who prepares food

fryer noun

a deep pan or machine for frying food

cook verb

to prepare food with heat

Commonly confused: fry cook or small fry?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “fry cook”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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