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View synonyms for fret
fret
1[ fret ]
verb (used without object)
, fret·ted, fret·ting.
- 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.
verb (used with object)
, fret·ted, fret·ting.
- 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.
fret
2[ fret ]
noun
- 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.
verb (used with object)
, fret·ted, fret·ting.
- to ornament with a fret or fretwork.
fret
3[ fret ]
noun
- 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)
, fret·ted, fret·ting.
- to provide with frets.
fret
1/ frɛt /
noun
- 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
2/ frɛt /
verb
- 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
noun
- a state of irritation or anxiety
- the result of fretting; corrosion
- a hole or channel caused by fretting
fret
3/ frɛt /
noun
- 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
verb
- tr to ornament with fret or fretwork
fret
4/ frɛt /
noun
- short for sea fret
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Derived Forms
- ˈfretless, adjective
- ˈfretless, adjective
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Other Words From
- fretter noun
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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
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Word History and Origins
Origin of fret1
C16: of unknown origin
Origin of fret2
Old English fretan to eat ; related to Old High German frezzan , Gothic fraitan , Latin peredere
Origin of fret3
C14: from Old French frete interlaced design used on a shield, probably of Germanic origin
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