serrer
French, verb/sɛ.ʁe/
serrer is a French verb meaning “to tighten (a screw, a knot)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Renfermer, ranger, mettre en lieu sûr, à l’abri”.
What does serrer mean in English?
verb
- 1
to tighten (a screw, a knot)
Doucement ! Ça ne sert à rien de trop serrer cette vis.
- 2
to shake (hands)
J'ai refusé de lui serrer la main.
- 3
to squeeze
Il lui serra le bras si fort qu'elle en garda une trace pendant trois jours.
- 4
to hug, to stay close to
serrer la côte
- 5
to squeeze
Ils se sont serrés pour lui faire une place.
- 6
to shake (hands)
Les jeunes hommes d'affaires se sont serré la main.
- 7
slangto seduce; to flirt with
- 8
slangto pinch (to arrest, apprehend someone)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Renfermer, ranger, mettre en lieu sûr, à l’abri. 2. Étreindre ; presser. 3. Mettre près l’un de l’autre, rapprocher étroitement. 4. Oppresser.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of serrer
- avoir + past participle infinitive multiword-construction
- serrant gerund participle present
- ayant + past participle gerund multiword-construction participle
- serré participle past
- serre first-person indicative present
- serres indicative present second-person
- serrons first-person indicative plural
- serrez indicative plural present
- serrent indicative plural present
- serrais first-person imperfect indicative
- serrait imperfect indicative singular
- serrions first-person imperfect indicative
- serriez imperfect indicative plural
- serraient imperfect indicative plural
- serrai first-person historic indicative
- serras historic indicative past
- serra historic indicative past
- serrâmes first-person historic indicative
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce serrer?
- /sɛ.ʁe/
- /se.ʁe/
- \se.ʁe\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to serrer
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is serrer in French?
serrer appears 8.7 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).