FRAY • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Fray

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/freɪ/ Listen

noun

fray n. An angry quarrel; an affray; contest; combat; broil. "Who began this bloody fray?"

Fray n. A fret or chafe, as in cloth; a place injured by rubbing.

verb

Fray v. t. (past & past part. frayed; pres. part. fraying) To frighten; to terrify; to alarm. "What frays ye, that were wont to comfort me affrayed?"

Fray v. t. To bear the expense of; to defray. (Obs.) "The charge of my most curious and costly ingredients frayed, I shall acknowledge myself amply satisfied."

Fray v. t. To rub; to wear off, or wear into shreds, by rubbing; to fret, as cloth; as, a deer is said to fray her head.

Fray v. i.

To rub. "We can show the marks he made When 'gainst the oak his antlers frayed."

To wear out or into shreads, or to suffer injury by rubbing, as when the threads of the warp or of the woof wear off so that the cross threads are loose; to ravel; as, the cloth frays badly. "A suit of frayed magnificience."

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Etymology of 'Fray'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Fray" Quotes from Famous Books

... passed; and so far from the names of the informer or of the witnesses being supplied, every thing that could facilitate the explanation of them was expunged from the declarations; and the prisoners, one and all, in these dungeons might truly exclaim, with Fray Luis de Leon, "I feel the pain, but see not the hand which inflicts it." Even in the early days of the inquisition, torture was carried to such an extent, that Sextus IV., in a brief published Jan. 29, 1482, could not ...

— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume XII., No. 324, July 26, 1828 • Various

... was completely demoralized, the Austrian commander gave the word to send his own cavalry into the fray. ...

— The Boy Allies in Great Peril • Clair W. Hayes

... ours too before nightfall," said Benita with a shudder, for the sight of this desperate fray and fear of how it might end had sickened her. "Thank Heaven, it is over! Perhaps they will give up the siege and ...

— Benita, An African Romance • H. Rider Haggard

... the thirtieth my Ambassador in London reported that Sir Edward Grey in course of a "private" conversation told him that if the conflict remained localized between Russia—not Serbia—and Austria, England would not move, but if we "mixed" in the fray she would take quick decisions and grave measures; i. e., if I left my ally Austria in the lurch to fight alone England would not ...

— My Four Years in Germany • James W. Gerard

... of the proceedings which were practically identical up to a certain point. It was about the commencement of the actual bloodshed that they differed. The Irish Times reporter believed that Mr. Shea had begun the fray by striking Augusta Goold behind the ear with his clenched fist. The Daily Express man claimed to have overheard Mr. O'Rourke urging his friends to brain a member of the audience with a chair. The Freeman's ...

— Hyacinth - 1906 • George A. Birmingham

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