serrer

From Old French serrer, from Vulgar Latin *serrāre (“close, shut”), from Late Latin serāre, present active infinitive of serō (“fasten, bolt”), from Latin sera (“bolt, crossbar”).

• IPA^(key): /sɛ.ʁe/, /se.ʁe/

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serrer

1. 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. to shake (hands)

   J'ai refusé de lui serrer la main. ― I refused to shake his/her hand.

3. to squeeze

   Il lui serra la bras si fort qu'elle en garda une trace pendant trois jours. ― He squeezed her arm so hard that she had a mark of it for three days.

4. (reflexive) to squeeze

   Ils se sont serrés pour lui faire une place. ― They squeezed together to make room for him.

5. (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.

6. (slang) to seduce; to flirt with

• 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” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

serrer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of serrō