Third-person singular present tense of frisk; moves about playfully or searches someone's clothing for concealed items.
From Old French frisque meaning lively or merry, probably of Germanic origin. The meaning evolved from general liveliness to the specific sense of searching someone during a police stop by the mid-20th century.
The police term 'frisk' has an interesting double life—it originally meant playful or lively movement, but became associated with security searches. Language changes meaning based on how it's used in society, and professional jargon like law enforcement can permanently shift a word's primary definition!
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