FRY (4)

Fry, n. [[OE. fri, fry, seed, descendants, cf. OF. froye spawning, spawn of. fishes, little fishes, fr. L. fricare tosub (see Friction), but cf. also Icel. fræ, frjō, seed, Sw. & Dan. frö, Goth. fraiw seed, descendants.]] 1. 1. (Zoöl.) The young of any fish.
2. 2. A swarm or crowd, especially of little fishes; young or small things in general.
The fry of children young. Spenser. To sever . . . the good fish from the other fry. Milton. We have burned two frigates, and a hundred and twenty small fry. Walpole.