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Fret   /frɛt/   Listen
Fret

noun
1.
Agitation resulting from active worry.  Synonyms: lather, stew, sweat, swither.  "He's in a sweat about exams"
2.
A spot that has been worn away by abrasion or erosion.  Synonym: worn spot.
3.
An ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines (often in relief).  Synonyms: Greek fret, Greek key, key pattern.
4.
A small bar of metal across the fingerboard of a musical instrument; when the string is stopped by a finger at the metal bar it will produce a note of the desired pitch.
verb
(past & past part. fretted; pres. part. fretting)
1.
Worry unnecessarily or excessively.  Synonyms: fuss, niggle.
2.
Be agitated or irritated.
3.
Provide (a musical instrument) with frets.
4.
Become or make sore by or as if by rubbing.  Synonyms: chafe, gall.
5.
Cause annoyance in.
6.
Gnaw into; make resentful or angry.  Synonyms: eat into, grate, rankle.  "His resentment festered"
7.
Carve a pattern into.
8.
Decorate with an interlaced design.
9.
Be too tight; rub or press.  Synonyms: choke, gag.
10.
Cause friction.  Synonyms: chafe, fray, rub, scratch.
11.
Remove soil or rock.  Synonyms: eat away, erode.
12.
Wear away or erode.  Synonym: eat away.



Related search:
Greek fret


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"Fret" Quotes from Famous Books



... continued Vanslyperken, talking to himself aloud. "Yes, yes, Frau Vandersloosh, you shall fret to some purpose. I'll worry down your fat for you. Yes, yes, Madam Vandersloosh, you shall bite your nails to the quick yet. Nothing would please you but Snarleyyow dead at your porch. My dog, ...
— Snarley-yow - or The Dog Fiend • Frederick Marryat
... others, and requiring only to be studied and learned by the child, rules out such conditions of fulfilment. It condemns the fact to be a hieroglyph: it would mean something if one only had the key. The clue being lacking, it remains an idle curiosity, to fret and obstruct the mind, a dead ...
— The Child and the Curriculum • John Dewey
... able to hold it against him as a shield, the next time he is desirous to fret me about taking a new belief," ...
— The Ward of King Canute • Ottilie A. Liljencrantz
... begged Rose, with tears in her eyes. "You know how I love being with you. If I could be certain Aunt Lucy would not fret for me, I should be only too delighted to get away. I never feel more than half-alive here. But Miss Sampson could not do for her what ...
— Miss Merivale's Mistake • Mrs. Henry Clarke
... kissed her weeping relative, and assured her that she could realize it all—that she must not fret, for she was quite herself again—not even hurt; only ...
— The Monctons: A Novel, Volume I • Susanna Moodie


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