fret

¹

[fret]

verb (used without object)

fretted, fretting 

1. to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like.

   Fretting about the lost ring isn't going to help.

   Synonyms: rage, fume

2. to cause corrosion; gnaw into something.

   acids that fret at the strongest metals.

3. to make a way by gnawing, corrosion, wearing away, etc..

   The river frets at its banks until a new channel is formed.

4. to become eaten, worn, or corroded (often followed byaway ).

   Limestone slowly frets away under pounding by the wind and rain.

5. to move in agitation or commotion, as water.

   water fretting over the stones of a brook.

verb (used with object)

fretted, fretting 

1. to torment; irritate, annoy, or vex.

   You mustn't fret yourself about that.

   Synonyms: tease, goad, harass, worry

2. to wear away or consume by gnawing, friction, rust, corrosives, etc..

   the ocean fretting its shores.

   Synonyms: rub, grind, abrade, corrode, gnaw, erode

3. to form or make by wearing away a substance.

   The river had fretted an underground passage.

4. to agitate (water).

   Strong winds were fretting the channel.

noun

1. an irritated state of mind; annoyance; vexation.

   Synonyms: worry, agitation, harassment

2. Now Rare.

   1. a wearing away; erosion; corrosion.

   2. a worn or eroded place.

fret

²

[fret]

noun

1. an interlaced, angular design; fretwork.

2. an angular design of bands within a border.

3. Heraldry.,  a charge composed of two diagonal strips interlacing with and crossing at the center of a mascle.

4. a piece of decoratively pierced work placed in a clock case to deaden the sound of the mechanism.

verb (used with object)

fretted, fretting 

1. to ornament with a fret or fretwork.

fret

³

[fret]

noun

1. 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.

verb (used with object)

fretted, fretting 

1. to provide with frets.

fret

¹

/ frɛt /

verb

1. to distress or be distressed; worry

2. to rub or wear away

3. to irritate or be irritated; feel or give annoyance or vexation

4. to eat away or be eaten away by chemical action; corrode

5. (intr) (of a road surface) to become loose so that potholes develop; scab

6. to agitate (water) or (of water) to be agitated

7. (tr) to make by wearing away; erode

noun

1. a state of irritation or anxiety

2. the result of fretting; corrosion

3. a hole or channel caused by fretting

fret

²

/ frɛt /

noun

1. a repetitive geometrical figure, esp one used as an ornamental border

2. such a pattern made in relief and with numerous small openings; fretwork

3. heraldry a charge on a shield consisting of a mascle crossed by a saltire

verb

1. (tr) to ornament with fret or fretwork

fret

³

/ frɛt /

noun

1. 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

fret

⁴

/ frɛt /

noun

1. short for sea fret

Other Word Forms

• fretter noun
• fretless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fret¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English freten, freoten, vreten “to eat up, consume greedily, devour,” Old English fretan “to eat up, consume, devour”; cognate with Old Saxon fretan, Gothic fra-itan, Old High German frezzan ( German fressen “to feed, devour”), from Germanic fra-etan, equivalent to fra- for- ( def. ) + etan eat ( def. )

Origin of fret²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fret, frette, probably from Old French frete “trelliswork,” possibly from a Germanic source; compare Old English frættewian, frætwian, fretwian “to adorn, embroider, trim”

Origin of fret³

First recorded in 1490–1500; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of fret¹

Old English fretan to _eat ; related to Old High German frezzan , Gothic fraitan , Latin peredere

Origin of fret²

C14: from Old French frete interlaced design used on a shield, probably of Germanic origin

Origin of fret³

C16: of unknown origin

Example Sentences

When investors are fretting about trade tensions, they’ve tended to pivot into havens like gold.

Read more on Barron's

Listeners eye roll about artists’ chart-driven agendas or fret about the environmental impact of all those CDs, while rival fandoms accuse each other’s favorite star of gaming the system.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Many also fret that it is only a matter of time before the tariffs already implemented push up inflation, potentially derailing more interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and this year’s stock rally.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"They're travelling in inhuman conditions," fretted the mayor of Mbandaka, who had come to the riverbank to check the boat was not overloaded and the passengers would be provided with life jackets.

Read more on Barron's

But today, one automaker, General Motors GM -1.02%decrease; red down pointing triangle , has less reason to fret.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• agonize 
• bother 
• brood 
• carp 
• chafe 
• fume 
• fuss 
• grieve