fret : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: fret	by the DICT Development Group
9 results for fret
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
fret n agitation resulting from active worry; "don't get in a stew"; "he's in a sweat about exams" Synonym(s): fret, stew, sweat, lather, swither a spot that has been worn away by abrasion or erosion Synonym(s): worn spot, fret an ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines (often in relief); "there was a simple fret at the top of the walls" Synonym(s): fret, Greek fret, Greek key, key pattern 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 v worry unnecessarily or excessively; "don't fuss too much over the grandchildren--they are quite big now" Synonym(s): fuss, niggle, fret be agitated or irritated; "don't fret over these small details" provide (a musical instrument) with frets; "fret a guitar" become or make sore by or as if by rubbing Synonym(s): chafe, gall, fret cause annoyance in gnaw into; make resentful or angry; "The injustice rankled her"; "his resentment festered" Synonym(s): eat into, fret, rankle, grate carve a pattern into decorate with an interlaced design be too tight; rub or press; "This neckband is choking the cat" Synonym(s): choke, gag, fret cause friction; "my sweater scratches" Synonym(s): rub, fray, fret, chafe, scratch remove soil or rock; "Rain eroded the terraces" Synonym(s): erode, eat away, fret wear away or erode Synonym(s): fret, eat away
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fret \Fret\ (fr[ecr]t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Fretted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Fretting}.] [OE. freten to eat, consume; AS. fretan, for foretan; pref. for- + etan to eat; akin to D. vreten, OHG. frezzan, G. fressen, Sw. fr[84]ta, Goth. fra-itan. See {For}, and {Eat}, v. t.] 1. To devour. [Obs.] The sow frete the child right in the cradle. --Chaucer. 2. 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. With many a curve my banks I fret. --Tennyson. 3. To impair; to wear away; to diminish. By starts His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear. --Shak. 4. To make rough, agitate, or disturb; to cause to ripple; as, to fret the surface of water. 5. To tease; to irritate; to vex. Fret not thyself because of evil doers. --Ps. xxxvii. 1.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fret \Fret\ (fr[ecr]t), n. [Obs.] See 1st {Frith}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fret \Fret\, v. i. 1. To be worn away; to chafe; to fray; as, a wristband frets on the edges. 2. To eat in; to make way by corrosion. Many wheals arose, and fretted one into another with great excoriation. --Wiseman. 3. To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; to rankle; as, rancor frets in the malignant breast. 4. To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions. He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground. --Dryden.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fret \Fret\, n. 1. Ornamental work in relief, as carving or embossing. See {Fretwork}. 2. (Arch.) 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. His lady's cabinet is a adorned on the fret, ceiling, and chimney-piece with . . . carving. --Evelyn.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fret \Fret\, n. 1. The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water. --Addison. 2. Agitation of mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation; as, he keeps his mind in a continual fret. Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret. --Pope. 3. Herpes; tetter. --Dunglison. 4. pl. (Mining) 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fret \Fret\, n. [F. frette a saltire, also a hoop, ferrule, prob. a dim. of L. ferrum iron. For sense 2, cf. also E. fret to rub.] 1. (Her.) A saltire interlaced with a mascle. 2. (Mus.) 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fret \Fret\, v. t. [OE. fretten to adorn, AS. fr[91]twan, fr[91]twian; akin to OS. fratah[omac]n, cf. Goth. us-fratwjan to make wise, also AS. fr[91]twe ornaments, OS. fratah[c6] adornment.] To ornament with raised work; to variegate; to diversify. Whose skirt with gold was fretted all about. --Spenser. Yon gray lines, That fret the clouds, are messengers of day. --Shak.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Fret \Fret\, v. t. To furnish with frets, as an instrument of music.