# fridge

Pronunciation: say "FRIJ" /fɹɪd͡ʒ/

## Noun

1. A refrigerator, the household appliance that keeps food and drinks cold. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A cold cabinet that keeps food and drinks fresh.
   - _She kept a stash of chocolate at the back of the fridge._
   - _The office fridge was crammed with everyone's leftover lunches._

## Verb

2. To place something inside a refrigerator so that it chills. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To put food or drink into a refrigerator to keep it cold.
   - _Could you fridge the dessert until we're ready to serve it?_
   - _They fridge the dough overnight so it firms up before baking._
3. To gratuitously kill, disempower, or remove a character (usually female) from a story, often solely to hurt another character (usually male) and drive a desire for revenge. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To kill or remove a character, often a woman, just to hurt and anger another character in a story.
   - _Critics slammed the sequel for choosing to fridge its only major female lead._
   - _Too many comics fridge the girlfriend in the first act to jump-start the hero's arc._

## Verb

4. To chafe or rub something, often to the point of wearing or fraying it. *(archaic, British)*
   - Simple: To rub something against a surface until it wears or gets sore.
   - _The ill-fitting saddle began to fridge the horse's flank on the long ride._
   - _Sailors complained that the coarse wool would fridge their wrists._
5. To chafe or rub against a surface. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To rub or chafe, so that something gets sore or worn.
   - _The rigging would fridge against the mast whenever the wind shifted._
   - _Coarse seams tend to fridge where they press against the skin._
6. To move restlessly; to jostle, shake, or fidget. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To move, shake, or fidget in a restless way.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3** — The noun is a clipping of "refrigerator," perhaps influenced by the Frigidaire brand or the dated form "frigerator," with the spelling likely shaped by analogy with words like "bridge" and "ridge." The verb comes from the noun, and a fandom slang sense alludes to the phrase "women in refrigerators," coined by American comic book writer Gail Simone.
**Meanings 4–6** — This is probably imitative of the sound of chafing or rubbing.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fridge (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).