serrer

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

• IPA^(key): /sɛ.ʁe/, /se.ʁe/

• Audio

  (file)

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. (takes a reflexive pronoun) 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

Derived terms

• desserrer
• resserrer
• serrage
• serre-joint
• serre-livres
• serre-nœud
• serrement
• serre-tête
• serrer la main
• serrer la vis
• serrer les dents
• se serrer la ceinture
• se serrer les coudes
• serrer les rangs

Further reading

• “serrer” in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse.
• “serrer” in Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française, 1872–1877.
• “serrer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Latin

Verb

serrer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of serrō