fry vs stir fry

fry is a noun but stir fry is not a noun.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
fry	Yes	No	Yes	No
stir fry	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, stir fry is a hyponym of fry; that is, stir fry is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than fry:

Other hyponyms of fry include frizzle, griddle, pan-fry, deep-fat-fry, deep-fry, french-fry, saute.

fry (noun)	stir fry (noun)
a young person of either sex

fry (verb)	stir fry (verb)
cook in hot fat or oil	fry very quickly over high heat
kill by electrocution, as in the electric chair
be excessively hot