fret

FRET, verb transitive [Latin rodo, rosi, rado, to scrape. To fret or gnaw gives the sense of unevenness, roughness, in substances; the like appearance is given to fluids by agitation.] 1. To rub; to wear away a substance by friction; as, to fret cloth; to fret a piece of gold or other metal. 2. To corrode; to gnaw; to ear away; as, a worm frets the planks of a ship. 3. To impair; to wear away. By starts, his fretted fortunes give him hope and fear. 4. To form into raised work. 5. To variegate; to diversify. Yon gray lines that fret the clouds are messengers of day. 6. To agitate violently. 7. To agitate; to disturb; to make rough; to cause to ripple; as, to fret the surface of water. 8. To tease; to irritate; to vex; to make angry. FRET not thyself because of evil doers. Psalms 37:1. 9. To wear away; to chafe; to gall. Let not a saddle or harness fret the skin of your horse. FRET, verb intransitive 1. To be worn away; to be corroded. Any substance will in time fret away by friction. 2. To eat or wear in; to make way of attrition or corrosion. Many wheels arose, and fretted one into another with great excoriation. 3. To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; as the rancor that frets in the malignant breast. 4. To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions. He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground. FRET, noun 1. The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water; small undulations continually repeated. 2. Work raised in protuberances; or a kind of knot consisting of two lists or small fillets interlaced, used as an ornament in architecture. 3. Agitation of mind; commotion of temper; irritation; as, he keeps his mind in a continual fret Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret 4. A short piece of wire fixed on the fingerboard of a guitar, etc., which being pressed against the strings varies the tone. 5. In heraldry, a bearing composed of bars crossed and interlaced. FRET, verb transitive To furnish with frets, as an instrument of music. FRET, noun [Latin fretum.] A frith, which see.