noun
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decorative geometrical carving or openwork
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any similar pattern of light and dark
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ornamental work of three-dimensional frets
Etymology
Origin of fretwork
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The piece takes inspiration from Chinese fretwork patterns, Art Noveau designs and German sculptor Hugo Leven’s iconic pewter bat candelabras.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
Mr. Eddy influenced a multitude of rock guitarists, including George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Springsteen, whose plunging guitar lines on “Born to Run” pay homage to Mr. Eddy’s muscular fretwork.
From New York Times • May 1, 2024
Its fretwork of thin glass tubes was bent and shaped to resemble an old-fashioned bellows camera.
From Washington Post • Apr. 16, 2023
Years later they married, and Louise displayed the cherished card, tucked into the fretwork of a bedroom dresser, for decades to come.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 13, 2023
She’s in one of her best dresses, sky blue with embroidery in white along the edges of the veil: flowers and fretwork.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
