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fret

 - 9 dictionary results

fret

1  [fret] verb, fret⋅ted, fret⋅ting, noun
Use fret in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like: Fretting about the lost ring isn't going to help.
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 fol. by away): 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)
6. to torment; irritate, annoy, or vex: You mustn't fret yourself about that.
7. to wear away or consume by gnawing, friction, rust, corrosives, etc.: the ocean fretting its shores.
8. to form or make by wearing away a substance: The river had fretted an underground passage.
9. to agitate (water): Strong winds were fretting the channel.
–noun
10. an irritated state of mind; annoyance; vexation.
11. erosion; corrosion; gnawing.
12. a worn or eroded place.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME freten, OE fretan to eat up, consume; c. OS fretan, Goth fraitan, OHG frezzan (G fressen)

Related forms:
fretter, noun

Synonyms:
1. fume, rage. 6. worry, harass, goad, tease. 7. erode, gnaw, corrode, abrade, grind, rub, rust. 10. harassment, agitation, worry.

fret

2  [fret] noun, verb, fret⋅ted, fret⋅ting.
–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)
5. to ornament with a fret or fretwork.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME frette < ?; cf. MF frete trellis-work, OE fretwian, var. of frætwian to adorn

Related forms:
fretless, adjective

fret

3  [fret] noun, verb, fret⋅ted, fret⋅ting.
–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)
2. to provide with frets.
Origin:
1490–1500; orig. uncert.

Related forms:
fretless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fret
fret 1   (frět)   
v.   fret·ted, fret·ting, frets

v.   tr.

  1. To cause to be uneasy; vex: "fret thy soul with crosses and with cares" (Edmund Spenser).

    1. To gnaw or wear away; erode.

    2. To produce a hole or worn spot in; corrode. See Synonyms at chafe.

  3. To form (a passage or channel) by erosion.

  4. To disturb the surface of (water or a stream); agitate.

v.   intr.

  1. To be vexed or troubled; worry. See Synonyms at brood.

  2. To be worn or eaten away; become corroded.

  3. To move agitatedly.

  4. To gnaw with the teeth in the manner of a rodent.

n.  

  1. The act or an instance of fretting.

  2. A hole or worn spot made by abrasion or erosion.

  3. Irritation of mind; agitation.


[Middle English freten, from Old English fretan, to devour; see ed- in Indo-European roots.]
fret 2   (frět)   
n.  One of several ridges set across the fingerboard of a stringed instrument, such as a guitar.
tr.v.   fret·ted, fret·ting, frets

  1. To provide with frets.

  2. To press (the strings of an instrument) against the frets.


[Origin unknown.]
fret 3   (frět)   
n.  

  1. An ornamental design consisting of repeated and symmetrical geometric figures, often in relief, contained within a band or border. Also called key pattern.

  2. A headdress, worn by women of the Middle Ages, consisting of interlaced wire.

tr.v.   fret·ted, fret·ting, frets
To provide with such a design or headdress.

[Middle English, interlaced work, from Old French frete.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

fret  (v.)
O.E. fretan "eat, devour" (in O.E., used of monsters and Vikings; in M.E., used of animals' eating), from P.Gmc. compound *fra- "for-" + *etan "to eat" (cf. Du. vreton, O.H.G. freggan, Ger. fressen, Goth. fraitan). Figurative sense of "irritate, worry, eat one's heart out" is c.1200. Modern Ger. still distinguishes essen for humans and fressen for animals.

fret  (n.)
"ornamental interlaced pattern," c.1386, from O.Fr. frete "interlaced work, trellis work," probably from Frank. *fetur (cf. O.E. fetor, O.H.G. 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 O.Fr. frete.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

fret

in decorative art and architecture, any one of several types of running or repeated ornament, consisting of lengths of straight lines or narrow bands, usually connected and at right angles to each other in T, L, or square-cornered G shapes, so arranged that the spaces between the lines or bands are approximately equal to the width of the bands. Occasionally the system is arranged so that the lines intersect or interlace, as in the common swastika fret. Because the fret is one of the simplest and most natural of decorative forms, it is one of the most widely spread, found from early times in most art forms and on all continents. Thus, it was a favourite decoration, during and after the 4th dynasty, for the ceilings of tombs in Egypt, where in later examples it was combined with rosettes, scarabs, and the lotus into patterns of great richness.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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