fret

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Especially when describing animals

   Especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.

   • Their hearts alreadie fretted and cankered at the very roote, for the last disgrace received.
   • And could we let a Light into their Bosoms, we should see them generally fretted and cankered with this secret and corroding Venom.
2. 2

   To chafe or irritate

   To chafe or irritate; to worry.

   • A Perſon of Honour, of a full Body abounding with ſharp Humours, was ſeized with an Herpes on his right Leg. [...] [I]t inflamed and ſwelled very much, many Wheals aroſe, and fretted one into another, with great Excoriation.
   • Had Carry preferred mere wealth, weighed by such a master, to the congenial spirit of her former lover? It fretted the young man even to think of such a possibility. And the visitors had fretted him each in some special point.
3. 3

   To make rough, to agitate or disturb

   To make rough, to agitate or disturb; to cause to ripple.

   • to fret the surface of water
4. ›+ 27 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      In the form fret out

      In the form fret out: to squander, to waste.

      • Yorke hereupon conſults with his ſpeciall friends; [...] how Yorke might get the Crowne of England, and for that cauſe how to ruine or fret out the Duke of Sommerſet; who ſtanding, they were to looke for ſtrong oppoſition.
   2. 5

      To gnaw

      To gnaw; to consume, to eat away.

      • VVhen thrid of life is almoſt fret in twaine, To giue it ſtrength breeds thankes, and wonders too.
      • The Mines are cold where the outward Air comes in; but where not, warm. The greateſt trouble they have is by duſt, which ſpoileth their Lungs and Stomachs, and frets their Skins.
      • You may see the surges wear and fret away the basement of the cliff against which they dash themselves, and the mass of broken rock falls into the depth and disappears, and then it is carried away by the tide as it retires.
   3. 6

      To mine by agitating or eating away at (ore in the bank of a river).

      • […]banks of rivers, with the washings of the water, there were divers times fretted out big pieces of gold. […]
   4. 7

      To be chafed or irritated

      To be chafed or irritated; to be angry or vexed; to utter peevish expressions through irritation or worry.

      • Fret not thy ſelfe becauſe of euill doers, neither bee thou enuious againſt the workers of iniquitie.
      • For when he knew his Rival freed and gone, / He ſwells with Wrath; he makes outrageous Moan: / He frets, he fumes, he ſtares, he ſtamps the Ground; / The hollow Tow'r with Clamours rings around: [...]
   5. 8

      To be worn away

      To be worn away; to chafe; to fray.

      • A wristband frets on the edges.
   6. 9

      To be anxious, to worry.

      • Critics were vehemently outspoken; but while they fretted about looks, they missed the cleverer points in the design itself.
   7. 10

      To be agitated

      To be agitated; to rankle; to be in violent commotion.

      • Rancour frets in the malignant breast.
      • Beyond Tabor, the ſmall river Luſchnitze frets over craggy rocks, covered with thick woods, through which you continue your journey for three German miles, [...]
      • And mid-way through the channel met / Conflicting tides that foam and fret, / And high their mingled billows jet, / As spears, that, in the battle set, / Spring upward as they break.
   8. 11

      To have secondary fermentation (fermentation occurring after the conversion of sugar to…

      To have secondary fermentation (fermentation occurring after the conversion of sugar to alcohol in beers and wine) take place.

   9. 12

      Agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or some other cause

      Agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or some other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.

   10. 13

       Agitation of the mind marked by complaint and impatience

       Agitation of the mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation.

       • He keeps his mind in a continual fret.
   11. 14

       Herpes

       Herpes; tetter (“any of various pustular skin conditions”).

   12. 15

       The worn sides of riverbanks, where ores or stones containing them accumulate after being…

       The worn sides of riverbanks, where ores or stones containing them accumulate after being washed down from higher ground, which thus indicate to miners the locality of veins of ore.

   13. 16

       An ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines, often in…

       An ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines, often in relief.

       • Went to visit our good neighbor, Mr. Bohun, whose whole house is a cabinet of all elegancies, especially Indian; [...] [A]bove all, his lady's cabinet is adorned on the fret, ceiling, and chimney-piece with Mr. Gibbons's best carving.
       • Remove spills from grill frets with a cloth and brush the frets with a stiff brush when dry and cold.
       • Square unit of nondescript frets which interlace in the centre to form a cruciform shape.
   14. 17

       A saltire interlaced with a mascle.

   15. 18

       To decorate or ornament, especially with an interlaced or interwoven pattern, or…

       To decorate or ornament, especially with an interlaced or interwoven pattern, or (architecture) with carving or relief (raised) work.

       • In a long purple pall, whose ſkirt with gold, / Was fretted all about, ſhe was arayd, [...]
   16. 19

       To form a pattern on

       To form a pattern on; to variegate.

       • Decius. Here lyes the Eaſt: doth not the Day breake heere? [...] Cin[na]. O pardon, Sir, it doth; and yon grey Lines, / That fret the Clouds, are Meſſengers of Day.
       • The sun shone brilliantly through the trembling leaves, birds of many colors flitted from spray to spray, butterflies and bright insects crossed the fretted work of light and shade.
   17. 20

       To cut through with a fretsaw, to create fretwork.

   18. 21

       One of the pieces of metal, plastic or wood across the neck of a guitar or other string…

       One of the pieces of metal, plastic or wood across the neck of a guitar or other string instrument that marks where a finger should be positioned to depress a string as it is played.

       • The long-necked Egyptian Nefer was certainly depicted in the 4th dynasty; and wall-painting of the time of Moses, preserved in the British Museum, shows that it then had frets.
       • The frets of the lute marked whole tones, while those of the guitar were a semi-tone apart.
   19. 22

       A ferrule, a ring.

   20. 23

       To bind, to tie, originally with a loop or ring.

   21. 24

       # To fit frets on to (a musical instrument).

       • to fret a guitar
   22. 25

       To press down the string behind a fret.

       • Note that right next to the headstock, the boxes may utilize some open notes in place of fretting with the pointer finger because the nut will effectively fret the notes for you[…].
   23. 26

       A channel, a strait

       A channel, a strait; a fretum.

       • I came in fine to the fourth part of the world, commonly called America, which by all deſcriptions I found to be an Iſland enuironed around about with the Sea, hauing on the Southſide of it, the frete, or ſtraight of Magellan, [...]
   24. 27

       A channel or passage created by the sea.

   25. 28

       A fog or mist at sea, or coming inland from the sea.

       • The wind brings a fret off the ocean; not cold, but achingly damp.
   26. 29

       Förster resonance energy transfer

   27. 30

       fluorescence resonance energy transfer, which is a type of the Förster phenomenon where…

       fluorescence resonance energy transfer, which is a type of the Förster phenomenon where one or both of the partners in the energy transfer are fluorescent chromophores

The neighborhood

• neighborrefret