I. ˈfret, usu -ed.+V verb
( fretted ; fretted ; fretting ; frets )
Etymology: Middle English freten, from Old English fretan; akin to Old High German frezzan to devour, Gothic fraitan; all from a prehistoric East Germanic-West Germanic compound whose first and second constituents respectively are represented by Gothic fra- for- and by Gothic itan to eat — more at for- , eat
transitive verb
1.
a. obsolete : eat , devour
b. archaic : consume
our thin wardrobe eaten and fretted … by moths — Charles Lamb
2.
a. : to cause to suffer emotional wear and tear : trouble persistently : vex , torment , worry
misgiving fretted him — Carson McCullers
don't you fret yourself about me — J.C.Powys
b. : to bring by bothering or tormenting
fretted to irritation by the remarks
fretted out of her coma by a violent thirstiness — Florence Gould
3.
a. : to eat into or wear away : corrode
the acid fretted the metal
the river fretted the soft banks
rainwater frets the rocks
also : to make irregular especially along an edge as if by eating : fray , ravel
the horizon was fretted by long thin lines of spruce and fir — O.S.J.Gogarty
honeycombed and fretted and pocked — M.S.Douglas
b. : rub , chafe , gall
a harness strap was fretting the horse so that he became almost unmanageable
c. : to diminish or lessen by slow consumption or using up
his fretted fortunes gave him hope and fear — Shakespeare
d. : to make by wearing away a substance
the stream fretted a channel for itself through the soft earth
4. : to pass, occupy, or waste (as time or life) in fretting
a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage — Shakespeare
— often used with away or out
5. : roughen , agitate , disturb : cause to ripple
fret the surface of the lake
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to eat into something : make a way by wearing away or off or by corrosion
b. : rankle
the insult fretted in his breast for some time
c. : to affect something as if by gnawing or biting : grate
the … urgent voice fretted at his nerves — Graham Greene
the familiar objects fretted on his mood — S.E.White
2. : wear , corrode
marble one expects to fret away, for it is merely fused limestone, very subject to the solvent action of rain — Sydney (Australia) Bulletin
: chafe
his back where the harness rubbed began to fret
: fray , ravel
3.
a. : to become vexed, worried, impatient, or irritated
fretting over the high cost of feeding their families — Vance Packard
when I fretted with impatience — Isaac Rosenfeld
b. of running water : to become agitated
a brook fretting over rocks
c. : to occupy oneself fretfully or impatiently : fuss
the cook had dinner simmering on the stove … and fretted with brooms, linens, mops — Frederick Way
d. : to feel impatient or irritated and usually passive opposition
tribes of hostile Indians who fretted against forward thrust of settlement — V.L.Parrington
the younger son, fretting against parental opposition — C.D.Lewis
4. now dialect England : ferment , work
sweet wine is liable to fret
Synonyms: see worry
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, action of gnawing, from freten to eat, devour, gnaw — more at fret I
1.
a. : the action of eroding : a wasting away or being wasted away as if by being gnawed or eaten
b. : a worn or eroded spot (as in an asphalt highway or the insulation of an electric wire)
c. obsolete : a spot of decay : ulcer
2.
a. : an agitation of mind marked by complaint and impatience : irritation , fretting
the cook was in a marked fret because the potatoes had burned
trying to curb his constant worry and fret
b. : something that frets the mind or temper
one of those still moments when the small frets vanish — D.H.Lawrence
the great peace beyond all this turmoil and fret — L.P.Smith
relief from domestic frets — S.H.Adams
3. obsolete : flurry , squall
4. : fermentation effervescence (as of liquor)
5. : chrysal
III. transitive verb
( fretted ; fretted ; fretting ; frets )
Etymology: Middle English fretten, from Middle French freter to decorate with interlaced designs, bind with a ferrule, from Old French, from frete ferrule
1.
a. : to decorate with interlaced designs : embroider with gold or silver
b. : to mark decoratively especially with a network of things : form a pattern or design upon
the air was fretted with a kaleidoscopic network of swifts — William Beebe
2. : to enrich (as a ceiling) with embossed or pierced carved patterns
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French frete interlaced design on a shield, from freter to decorate with interlaced designs
1. : an ornamental network ; especially : a medieval net of gold, silver, or jewels for a woman's headdress
2. : an ornament or ornamental work often in relief consisting of small straight bars intersecting one another in right or oblique angles or often of solid slats intersecting each other
3.
a. : a heraldic device consisting of narrow bends crossed saltirewise and interlaced
b. : a heraldic device consisting of two narrow bends in saltire interlaced with a voided lozenge
[s]fret.jpg[/s] [
fret 2
]
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably from Middle French frete ferrule, from Old French, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Old English fetor fetter — more at fetter
: one of a series of ridges of metal, ivory, or other material fixed across the fingerboard of a guitar or similar instrument
VI. transitive verb
( fretted ; fretted ; fretting ; frets )
: to furnish with frets (as a stringed instrument)
VII. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Latin fretum — more at fretum
archaic : strait
VIII. transitive verb
: to depress (the strings of a musical instrument) against the frets
intransitive verb
: to fret the strings of a musical instrument