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serrer

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French serrer, from Vulgar Latin *serrāre (“close, shut”), from Late Latin serāre (“fasten, bolt”), from Latin sera (“bolt, crossbar”).

Pronunciation

Verb

serrer

  1. (transitive) to tighten (a screw, a knot)
    Doucement ! Ça ne sert à rien de trop serrer cette vis. ― Gently! It's no use to tighten this screw too much.
    Ton nœud de cravate n'est pas assez serré. ― Your tie's knot isn't tightened enough.
  2. (transitive) to shake (hands)
    J'ai refusé de lui serrer la main. ― I refused to shake his/her hand.
  3. (transitive) to squeeze
    Il lui serra le bras si fort qu'elle en garda une trace pendant trois jours. ― He squeezed her arm so hard that she had a mark on it for three days.
  4. (transitive) to hug, to stay close to
    serrer la côte ― to hug the shore, to hug the coastline
  5. (reflexive) to squeeze
    Ils se sont serrés pour lui faire une place.
    They squeezed together to make room for him.
  6. (pronominal) to shake (hands)
    Les jeunes hommes d'affaires se sont serré la main. ― The young businessmen shook each other's hands.
  7. (slang, transitive) to seduce; to flirt with
  8. (slang, law enforcement, transitive) to pinch (to arrest, apprehend someone)
    Synonyms: appréhender, arrêter

Conjugation

Conjugation of serrer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
More information infinitive, simple ...

Derived terms

Further reading

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Latin

Verb

serrer

  1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of serrō

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