To Deep Fry
To Hoist, To Raise
transitive verb, ichidan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means hoist. But most commonly (and most importantly), this word means to deep fry. I guess you can think of it as hoisting that delicious deep-fried food out of the oil.
Of course, 揚げる can also mean to hoist (a sail) or to raise (a flag) depending on the context.
Remember the other "to raise" vocabs? They are all あげる as well. For example, 上げる is あげる and 挙げる is あげる as well.
ちょうど今からトンカツを揚げるところです。
I’m just about to deep fry pork cutlets.
最近は祝日に日本の国旗を揚げる家をあまり見ませんね。
These days, we don't see many houses raising the Japanese flag during public holidays.
ヨットのセイルを揚げるのって結構大変なんだよね。
It's actually quite a bit of work to hoist a sail on a yacht.