Fret \Fret\ (fr[e^]t), n. [Obs.]

See 1st Frith.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fret \Fret\ (fr[e^]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["a]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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fret \Fret\, v. t. To furnish with frets, as an instrument of music.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Fret \Fret\, v. t. [OE. fretten to adorn, AS. fr[ae]twan, fr[ae]twian; akin to OS. fratah[=o]n, cf. Goth. us-fratwjan to make wise, also AS. fr[ae]twe ornaments, OS. fratah[=i] 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)