Fret
[fret] or [frɛt]
Definition
(noun.) 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.
(noun.) an ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines (often in relief); 'there was a simple fret at the top of the walls'.
(noun.) agitation resulting from active worry; 'don't get in a stew'; 'he's in a sweat about exams'.
(verb.) wear away or erode.
(verb.) decorate with an interlaced design.
(verb.) carve a pattern into.
(verb.) be agitated or irritated; 'don't fret over these small details'.
(verb.) cause annoyance in.
(verb.) provide (a musical instrument) with frets; 'fret a guitar'.
Edited by Helen--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) See 1st Frith.
(v. t.) To devour.
(v. t.) To rub; to wear away by friction; to chafe; to gall; hence, to eat away; to gnaw; as, to fret cloth; to fret a piece of gold or other metal; a worm frets the plants of a ship.
(v. t.) To impair; to wear away; to diminish.
(v. t.) To make rough, agitate, or disturb; to cause to ripple; as, to fret the surface of water.
(v. t.) To tease; to irritate; to vex.
(v. i.) To be worn away; to chafe; to fray; as, a wristband frets on the edges.
(v. i.) To eat in; to make way by corrosion.
(v. i.) To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; to rankle; as, rancor frets in the malignant breast.
(v. i.) To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions.
(n.) The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.
(n.) Agitation of mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation; as, he keeps his mind in a continual fret.
(n.) Herpes; tetter.
(n.) The worn sides of river banks, where ores, or stones containing them, accumulate by being washed down from the hills, and thus indicate to the miners the locality of the veins.
(v. t.) To ornament with raised work; to variegate; to diversify.
(n.) Ornamental work in relief, as carving or embossing. See Fretwork.
(n.) An ornament consisting of smmall fillets or slats intersecting each other or bent at right angles, as in classical designs, or at obilique angles, as often in Oriental art.
(n.) The reticulated headdress or net, made of gold or silver wire, in which ladies in the Middle Ages confined their hair.
(n.) A saltire interlaced with a mascle.
(n.) A short piece of wire, or other material fixed across the finger board of a guitar or a similar instrument, to indicate where the finger is to be placed.
(v. t.) To furnish with frets, as an instrument of music.
Edited by Henry
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Rub, chafe, wear (by friction), wear away.[2]. Vex, tease, irritate, gall, provoke, nettle, affront, make angry.[3]. Variegate, diversify.
v. n. Chafe, fume, rage, be vexed, be irritated, be chafed, be peevish, be fretful, be angry.
n. [1]. Agitation, irritation, vexation.[2]. Herpes, tetter, ringworm.
Edited by Ahmed
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See CHAFE]
Inputed by Erma
Definition
n. a piece of interlaced ornamental work: (archit.) an ornament consisting of small fillets intersecting each other at right angles: (her.) bars crossed and interlaced.—ns. Fret′-saw a saw with a narrow blade and fine teeth used for fret-work scroll-work &c.; Frette a hoop for strengthening a cannon shrunk on its breach.—adjs. Fret′ted Fret′ty ornamented with frets.—n. Fret′-work ornamental work consisting of a combination of frets perforated work.
n. a short wire on the finger-board of a guitar or other instrument.—v.t. to furnish with frets.
v.t. to ornament with raised work: to variegate:—pr.p. fret′ting; pa.p. fret′ted.
v.t. to wear away by rubbing to rub chafe ripple disturb: to eat into: to vex to irritate.—v.i. to wear away: to vex one's self: to be peevish:—pr.p. fret′ting; pa.p. fret′ted (B.) fret.—n. agitation of the surface of a liquid: irritation: the worn side of the banks of a river.—adj. Fret′ful peevish.—adv. Fret′fully.—n. Fret′fulness.—p.adj. Fret′ting vexing.—n. peevishness.
Checker: Roland
Examples
- Scull it is, pardner--don't fret yourself--I didn't touch him. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- I make the schoolmaster so ridiculous, and so aware of being made ridiculous, that I see him chafe and fret at every pore when we cross one another. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- No; I do not desire to return to the world, with all its tumult, ambitions, and fret. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- If it fails on its merits, he doesn't worry or fret about it, but, on the contrary, regards it as a useful fact learned; remains cheerful and tries something else. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Tom himself began to fret over the scene-painter's slow progress, and to feel the miseries of waiting. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- If it suited her to grow ugly, why need others fret themselves on the subject? Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- But don't you fret yourself on that score. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- It heaves and frets beneath the artificial political map like some misfitted giant. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Is that what frets you? Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It keeps up a perpetual fever in my veins; it frets my immedicable wound; it is instinct with poison. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- What frets me is, that when I try to esteem, I am baffled; when religiously inclined, there are but false gods to adore. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- But a Greek republic would have been dangerous to all monarchy in a Europe that fretted under the ideas of the Holy Alliance. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Through the deep throng it could pass but slowly; the spirited horses fretted in their curbed ardour. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- In my youth, I should have chafed and fretted under the irritation of my own unreasonable state of mind. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- These were crimes his elders fretted over among themselves and proposed to punish when the opportunity should offer. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- It fretted him to think the visit might never be repeated. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- He fretted, pished, and pshawed. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Our lives, we see with a growing certitude, are fretted and shadowed and spoilt because there is as yet no worldwide law, no certain justice. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Amy was fretting because her lessons were not learned, and she couldn't find her rubbers. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Perpetual fretting at length threw Madame Moritz into a decline, which at first increased her irritability, but she is now at peace for ever. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- But the great image contemplated the dead ages as calmly as ever, unconscious of the small insect that was fretting at its jaw. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- By this time, fasting and fretting had made poor Meyler seriously unwell. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- I said, 'No man is worth fretting for in that way. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- I've often wondered to see men that could call their wives and children _their own_ fretting and worrying about anything else. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- I could not guess what his decision might be, and for hours I sat fretting over the outcome of the matter. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
Editor: Natasha