A french fry is a strip of potato that's been cut into a long, thin piece and cooked in hot oil until it's crispy on the outside and soft inside. French fries are one of the world's most popular foods, served at restaurants, school cafeterias, and backyard cookouts.

Despite the name, french fries probably weren't invented in France. Most food historians believe they originated in Belgium in the late 1600s, where people fried small fish from local rivers. When the rivers froze in winter, they cut potatoes into fish-like shapes and fried those instead.

The name can also work as a verb: to french fry something means to cut it into thin strips and deep-fry it. Some restaurants serve french-fried onions or zucchini alongside regular potato fries.

French fries come in many styles. Shoestring fries are extremely thin and crispy. Steak fries are thick wedges. Curly fries are spiral-shaped. Waffle fries have a crisscross pattern. In Britain, people call thick-cut fries chips, which causes confusion since Americans use “chips” for what the British call crisps (thin, crunchy potato slices sold in bags).