fret Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun agitation resulting from active worry
    swither; sweat; stew; lather.
    • don't get in a stew
    • he's in a sweat about exams
  2. noun a spot that has been worn away by abrasion or erosion
    worn spot.
  3. noun an ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines (often in relief)
    Greek key; key pattern; Greek fret.
    • there was a simple fret at the top of the walls
  4. noun a small bar of metal across the fingerboard of a musical instrument; when the string is stopped by a finger at the metal bar it will produce a note of the desired pitch
  5. verb worry unnecessarily or excessively
    niggle; fuss.
    • don't fuss too much over the grandchildren--they are quite big now
  6. verb be agitated or irritated
    • don't fret over these small details
  7. verb provide (a musical instrument) with frets
    • fret a guitar
  8. verb become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
    chafe; gall.
  9. verb cause annoyance in
  10. verb gnaw into; make resentful or angry
    grate; rankle; eat into.
    • The injustice rankled her
    • his resentment festered
  11. verb carve a pattern into
  12. verb decorate with an interlaced design
  13. verb be too tight; rub or press
    gag; choke.
    • This neckband is choking the cat
  14. verb cause friction
    rub; chafe; scratch; fray.
    • my sweater scratches
  15. verb remove soil or rock
    eat away; erode.
    • Rain eroded the terraces
  16. verb wear away or erode
    eat away.

WordNet

Fret noun
Definitions
Obs.
  1. See 1st Frith.
Fret transitive verb
Etymology
OE. freten to eat, consume; AS. fretan, for foretan; pref. for- + etan to eat; akin to D. vreten, OHG. frezzan, G. fressen, Sw. fräta, Goth. fra-itan. See For, and Eat, v. t.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Fretted; present participle & verbal noun Fretting
Definitions
  1. To devour. Obs.
    The sow frete the child right in the cradle. Chaucer.
  2. To rub; to wear away by friction; to chafe; to gall; hence, to eat away; to gnaw; as, to fret cloth; to fret a piece of gold or other metal; a worm frets the plants of a ship.
    With many a curve my banks I fret. Tennyson.
  3. To impair; to wear away; to diminish.
    By starts His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear. Shak.
  4. To make rough, agitate, or disturb; to cause to ripple; as, to fret the surface of water.
  5. To tease; to irritate; to vex.
    Fret not thyself because of evil doers. Ps. xxxvii. 1.
Fret intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To be worn away; to chafe; to fray; as, a wristband frets on the edges.
  2. To eat in; to make way by corrosion.
    Many wheals arose, and fretted one into another with great excoriation. Wiseman.
  3. To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; to rankle; as, rancor frets in the malignant breast.
  4. To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions.
    He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground. Dryden.
Fret noun
Definitions
  1. The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water. Addison.
  2. Agitation of mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation; as, he keeps his mind in a continual fret.
    Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret. Pope.
  3. Herpes; tetter. Dunglison.
  4. pl. (Mining) The worn sides of river banks, where ores, or stones containing them, accumulate by being washed down from the hills, and thus indicate to the miners the locality of the veins.
Fret transitive verb
Etymology
OE. fretten to adorn, AS. frætwan, frætwian; akin to OS. fratahn, cf. Goth. us-fratwjan to make wise, also AS. frætwe ornaments, OS. fratahi adornment.
Definitions
  1. To ornament with raised work; to variegate; to diversify.
    Whose skirt with gold was fretted all about. Spenser.
    Yon gray lines, That fret the clouds, are messengers of day. Shak.
Fret noun
Definitions
  1. Ornamental work in relief, as carving or embossing. See Fretwork.
  2. (Arch.) An ornament consisting of smmall fillets or slats intersecting each other or bent at right angles, as in classical designs, or at obilique angles, as often in Oriental art.
    His lady's cabinet is a adorned on the fret, ceiling, and chimney-piece with . . . carving. Evelyn.
  3. The reticulated headdress or net, made of gold or silver wire, in which ladies in the Middle Ages confined their hair.
    A fret of gold she had next her hair. Chaucer.
Fret noun
Etymology
F. frette a saltire, also a hoop, ferrule, prob. a dim. of L. ferrum iron. For sense 2, cf. also E. fret to rub.
Definitions
  1. (Her.) A saltire interlaced with a mascle.
  2. (Mus.) A short piece of wire, or other material fixed across the finger board of a guitar or a similar instrument, to indicate where the finger is to be placed.
Fret transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To furnish with frets, as an instrument of music.

Webster 1913