fret
1to 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.
Origin of fret
1Other words for fret
Other words from fret
- fretter, noun
Other definitions for fret (2 of 3)
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.
Origin of fret
2Other words from fret
- fretless, adjective
Other definitions for fret (3 of 3)
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 fret
3Other words from fret
- fretless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use fret in a sentence
For more than a century, Americans have been fretting about these sorts of ghosts.
That officer fretting about his “stance,” we learn, is plagued by PTSD that cripples him both on the job and at home.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops | Melissa Leon | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTCertainly, other communities—ultra-Orthodox Jews, for example—are fretting about members who go online, and then astray.
Now, as it turns out, men are fretting about their closing window to meet someone and have kids.
High Manxiety: Thirtysomething Men Are The New Neurotic Singles | Hannah Seligson | May 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNot because I was fretting about how this might affect the product on the court.
Guns, Blow Jobs, and Choke Holds: a History of the New York Knicks | Robert Silverman | February 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Day by day these fretting anxieties and perplexities wasted her strength, and her fever grew higher and higher.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonI can't see father pining and fretting himself to death about his son, without doing something to relieve his mind.
The World Before Them | Susanna MoodieAnd the colonel and the squire made themselves anything but comfortable, fretting and fuming at the delay.
The Rival Campers | Ruel Perley SmithLittle Ned, who was not very well, began fretting and reaching out his arms to be taken by his father.
Elsie's Vacation and After Events | Martha FinleyHis colleagues, anxious for peace and fretting under his predominance, allowed themselves to be blinded by their hopes.
The Political History of England - Vol. X. | William Hunt
British Dictionary definitions for fret (1 of 4)
/ (frɛt) /
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
Origin of fret
1British Dictionary definitions for fret (2 of 4)
/ (frɛt) /
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
Origin of fret
2Derived forms of fret
- fretless, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for fret (3 of 4)
/ (frɛt) /
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
Origin of fret
3Derived forms of fret
- fretless, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for fret (4 of 4)
/ (frɛt) /
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
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