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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


WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University


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"Fret" Quotes from Famous Books



... I have seen the sky, which was washed overnight, and the sun, which has evidently been freshly enamelled. I have seen the new leaves as they swayed and whispered over your extensive domains, with the fret of spring alert in every sap cell. I have seen the little birds as they hopped among said leaves and commented upon the scarcity of worms. I have seen the buxom flowers as they curtsied and danced above your flower-beds like a miniature ...
— The Cords of Vanity • James Branch Cabell et al
... the bottle eagerly and cries when it is taken away. He often forms the habit of sucking his fingers immediately after. He begins to fret half an hour or an hour before the next ...
— The Care and Feeding of Children - A Catechism for the Use of Mothers and Children's Nurses • L. Emmett Holt
... a kind word, and tell him not to fret— There's many worthier than I would make him ...
— Daisy's Necklace - And What Came of It • Thomas Bailey Aldrich
... It seems my fate to fret away my years in this country. Not for a second do I regret being American—indeed, I think that a regret typical of very vulgar people, and I feel sure we are the great coming nation—yet"—and she ...
— This Side of Paradise • F. Scott Fitzgerald
... "If you will think of the common sense of it, you can easily see that the strain of fretting is interfering radically with your getting well. For when you are using up strength to fret, you are simply robbing yourself of the vitality which would be used directly in the cure of ...
— Nerves and Common Sense • Annie Payson Call


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