fretted
[fret-id]
- ornamented or provided with frets: a fretted molding.
Origin of fretted
fret1
[fret]
- to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like: Fretting about the lost ring isn't going to help.
- to cause corrosion; gnaw into something: acids that fret at the strongest metals.
- to make a way by gnawing, corrosion, wearing away, etc.: The river frets at its banks until a new channel is formed.
- to become eaten, worn, or corroded (often followed by away): Limestone slowly frets away under pounding by the wind and rain.
- to move in agitation or commotion, as water: water fretting over the stones of a brook.
- to torment; irritate, annoy, or vex: You mustn't fret yourself about that.
- to wear away or consume by gnawing, friction, rust, corrosives, etc.: the ocean fretting its shores.
- to form or make by wearing away a substance: The river had fretted an underground passage.
- to agitate (water): Strong winds were fretting the channel.
- an irritated state of mind; annoyance; vexation.
- erosion; corrosion; gnawing.
- a worn or eroded place.
Origin of fret1
before 900; Middle English freten, Old English fretan to eat up, consume; cognate with Old Saxon fretan, Gothic fraitan, Old High German frezzan (German fressen)
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com1. fume, rage. 6. worry, harass, goad, tease. 7. erode, gnaw, corrode, abrade, grind, rub, rust. 10. harassment, agitation, worry.
fret2
[fret]
- an interlaced, angular design; fretwork.
- an angular design of bands within a border.
- Heraldry. a charge composed of two diagonal strips interlacing with and crossing at the center of a mascle.
- a piece of decoratively pierced work placed in a clock case to deaden the sound of the mechanism.
- to ornament with a fret or fretwork.
Origin of fret2
1350–1400; Middle English frette < ?; compare Middle French frete trellis-work, Old English fretwian, variant of frætwian to adorn
fret3
[fret]
- any of the ridges of wood, metal, or string, set across the fingerboard of a guitar, lute, or similar instrument, which help the fingers to stop the strings at the correct points.
- to provide with frets.
Origin of fret3
First recorded in 1490–1500; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for fretted
Contemporary Examples
As I fretted over whether it was safe for her ingest the body paint, she extolled its benefits.
Rivers told me in both 2010 and 2014 that, when thinking about dying herself, she fretted most about her daughter Melissa.
Last week I fretted that America—and American business, in particular—seemed to be running out of ideas.
Behind the scenes, he threw spectacular parties, fretted over his ratings, and stayed loyal to his friends.
Nearly every critic of the Iranian-American and Muslim author has fretted over whether he has the right to tackle his subject.
Historical Examples
I tell you, lad, that I am all undone, like a fretted bow-string.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
Fretted by the pain, he plunged into the wilderness to hide like a wounded deer.
The Bacillus of BeautyHarriet Stark
And the hot ferment of Paris life seethed and fretted all around him.
The Incomplete AmoristE. Nesbit
But to-day he was fretted and chafed by long waiting for that answer to his letter.
The Incomplete AmoristE. Nesbit
He had just been fretted sufficiently to find fault with her dress.
fretted
- ornamented with angular designs or frets
- decorated with fretwork
fret1
- to distress or be distressed; worry
- to rub or wear away
- to irritate or be irritated; feel or give annoyance or vexation
- to eat away or be eaten away by chemical action; corrode
- (intr) (of a road surface) to become loose so that potholes develop; scab
- to agitate (water) or (of water) to be agitated
- (tr) to make by wearing away; erode
- a state of irritation or anxiety
- the result of fretting; corrosion
- a hole or channel caused by fretting
Word Origin
Old English fretan to eat; related to Old High German frezzan, Gothic fraitan, Latin peredere
fret2
- a repetitive geometrical figure, esp one used as an ornamental border
- such a pattern made in relief and with numerous small openings; fretwork
- heraldry a charge on a shield consisting of a mascle crossed by a saltire
- (tr) to ornament with fret or fretwork
Word Origin
C14: from Old French frete interlaced design used on a shield, probably of Germanic origin
fret3
- any of several small metal bars set across the fingerboard of a musical instrument of the lute, guitar, or viol family at various points along its length so as to produce the desired notes when the strings are stopped by the fingers
Word Origin
C16: of unknown origin
fret4
- short for sea fret
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for fretted
fret
v.
"be peevish or worried," early 12c., from Old English fretan "eat, devour" (in Old English used of monsters and Vikings; in Middle English used of animals' eating), from Proto-Germanic compound *fra- "for-" + *etan "to eat" (cf. Dutch vreton, Old High German freggan, German fressen, Gothic fraitan). Transitive sense of "eat away" is from late 12c. Figurative sense of "irritate, worry, eat one's heart out" is c.1200. Modern German still distinguishes essen for humans and fressen for animals. Related: Fretted; fretting. As a noun, from early 15c.
fret
n.
"ornamental interlaced pattern," late 14c., from Old French frete "interlaced work, trellis work," probably from Frankish *fetur or another Germanic source (cf. Old English fetor, Old High German feggara "fetter") perhaps from notion of "decorative anklet," or of materials "bound" together. The other noun, "ridge on the fingerboard of a guitar," is c.1500 of unknown origin but possibly another sense of Old French frete.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper