Is the word “fry” singular or plural?

[Joe Carillo]

A fellow good English advocate, Oscar P., e-mailed me the following note this morning:
 
The Encarta Dictionary (Internet’s) puts the word “fry” as plural—small fishes. But my Webster’s Universal says that the plural of “fry” (small fish) is “fries.” So, what is the common usage of “fry,” singular or plural form? Thanks.

My reply to Oscar:

To determine whether the plural of “fry” should be “fries” or should stay uninflected as “fry,” I think we need to make a distinction between live small fishes and cooked ones. When the word “fry” refers to small adult fish that are live, “fry” is both singular and plural; when “fry” refers to a dish of something fried, whether small fish or something else, its plural is “fries.” 

These observations of mine are based on the definitions below of “fry” by the Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary.

Main Entry: fry
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural fries
Date: 1833

1 : a social gathering or picnic where food is fried and eaten  <a fish fry>
2 a : a dish of something fried  b : FRENCH FRY —  usually used in plural  <a burger and fries>

Main Entry: fry
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural fry
Etymology: Middle English, Anglo-French frie, from freier, frier to rub, spawn — more at  FRAY
Date: 14th century

1 a : recently hatched or juvenile fishes  b : the young of other animals
2 : very small adult fishes
3 : members of a group or class  : INDIVIDUALS  <small fry>