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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.



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Greek fret


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"Fret" Quotes from Famous Books



... 'I ain't a-goin' to get married, don't you fret yourself about that; I know you're a judge of these things. Order in your pipe and I'll read you the ...
— The Pickwick Papers • Charles Dickens
... see,' said Peg, kneeling down on the floor beside him, and staying his impatient hand; 'what's of no use we'll burn; what we can get any money by, we'll keep; and if there's any we could get him into trouble by, and fret and waste away his heart to shreds, those we'll take particular care of; for that's what I want to do, and what I hoped to do ...
— The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby • Charles Dickens
... four sons in the army but still I don't fret. It is all in God's hands. You may die in your bed or God may spare you in a battle," replied Marya Dmitrievna's deep voice, which easily carried the whole length ...
— War and Peace • Leo Tolstoy
... "Well, but I understand it. I understand that everything between us is past and done with, and that I have nothing more to do with you, you Moloch, you! I understand that I shall not go and make my will, to become your wife and fret myself to death over this skeleton of a husband, that I may leave you to chuckle as my heir. No, no, it is past. I am not going to the justice of the peace, and I will tear ...
— Henry VIII And His Court • Louise Muhlbach
... on Professor Haddock, "prevents respectable young ladies from making love, a thing they would enjoy doing, whilst mercenary girls do it too much and without getting any enjoyment out of it. It is indeed deplorable. But M. Leon Blum need not fret too much. If the evil exists, as he says it does, in our middle-class society, I can assure him that everywhere else he would see a consoling spectacle. Among the people, the mass of the people through town and country, girls do not deny themselves ...
— Penguin Island • Anatole France


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