fret

[ UK /fɹˈɛt/ ]
[ US /ˈfɹɛt/ ]
VERB
  1. become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
  2. cause friction
    my sweater scratches
  3. cause annoyance in
  4. gnaw into; make resentful or angry
    The injustice rankled her
    his resentment festered
  5. be agitated or irritated
    don't fret over these small details
  6. carve a pattern into
  7. be too tight; rub or press
    This neckband is choking the cat
  8. provide (a musical instrument) with frets
    fret a guitar
  9. wear away or erode
  10. remove soil or rock
    Rain eroded the terraces
  11. decorate with an interlaced design
  12. worry unnecessarily or excessively
    don't fuss too much over the grandchildren--they are quite big now
NOUN
  1. an ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines (often in relief)
    there was a simple fret at the top of the walls
  2. agitation resulting from active worry
    he's in a sweat about exams
    don't get in a stew
  3. a spot that has been worn away by abrasion or erosion
  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
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How To Use fret In A Sentence

  • When the baby is not thriving and gaining steadily in weight, or is fretty and cries a good deal, and does not rest and sleep peacefully, something, of course, is wrong. The Eugenic Marriage, Vol 2 (of 4) A Personal Guide to the New Science of Better Living and Better Babies
  • I was working all hours and constantly fretting about everyone else's problems.
  • They may refuse their feeds and become fretful with a shrill cry when handled.
  • We observe a reduction in fluorescence anisotropy only in the presence of FRET from linked mVenus and mCerulean.
  • The lady watched fretfully as the men came closer to hitting Mack with their bullets and ran much faster than before as their rage intensified.
  • And in such a case envy will be sure to work and boil up to a more than ordinary height, while the envious person frets, and raves, and swells at the plenties and affluence of his abounding neighbour, and (as I may so express it) is even ready to burst with another's fulness. Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions. Vol. IV.
  • British influence, with wooden jalousies, wide porches, and patterned railings and fretwork, dominated urban architecture in the colonial period.
  • Policyholders must be fretting themselves witless over what to do next.
  • Personal relations have become restless, fretful, often disturbed by an itch for change and variety.
  • He got to wear his lovely yellow silk gown—the one he wore as Juliet he fretted over the tear in the sleeve and blames Becka, naturally. Exit the Actress
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