franks

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of frank.

   The deli down the street sells all-beef franks by the pound.

   The clerk checked the franks on the envelopes before sorting the government mail.

   Note

   The plural belongs to the countable meanings, which have little in common: sausages from the deli, printed marks on official envelopes, grey herons in British use, pigsties, and, as an obsolete spelling, the old French francs. The right of free postage, usually spoken of as the frank, never takes the plural.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of frank.

   The mailroom clerk franks a stack of invoices before the afternoon pickup.

   The government franks its official letters, so the people who send them pay no postage.

   Note

   Its postal uses take the letter or package as the object: a mailroom franks it, marking or exempting it so that no stamp is paid. A farmyard verb shares the spelling, meaning to pen an animal up in a frank, or sty, and so to cram or fatten it. The same spelling also serves as the plural noun, as in a plate of grilled franks.

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