fray

fray meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

Examples of fray in a sentence

• Everything told of long use and quiet slow decay; the very bell-rope in the porch was frayed into a fringe, and hoary with old age.1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Seventeenth”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Chapman...
• It was a little past mid-day when the four-horse stage-coach by which I was a passenger, got into the ravel of traffic frayed out about the Cross-Keys, Wood-street, Cheapside, London.1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter I, in Great Expectations […], volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published...
• They are then fraying, rubbing the velvet off their new horns against the trees.1884, Richard Jefferies, “Tracking Deer by Slot”, in Red Deer, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 112:
• [T]here's no woman made without a flaw; / Your purest lawns have frays, and cambrics bracks.c. 1613 (date written; published 1630), Thomas Middleton, “A Chaste Maid in Cheapside”, in A[rthur] H[enry] Bullen, editor, The Works of...

All 17 example sentences with fray

Synonyms of fray

• frazzle
• affray
• effray

Forms of fray

Past tense of fray: frayed

Origin of fray

The verb is derived from Late Middle English fraien (“to beat so as to cause bruising, to bruise; to crush; to rub; to wear, wear off”), borrowed from Old French fraier, freier, freiier (modern French frayer (“to clear, open up (a path, etc.); (figuratively) to find one’s way through (something); (obsolete) to rub”)), from Latin fricāre, the present active infinitive of fricō (“to chafe; to rub”), an intensive form of friō (“to break into pieces, crumble; to rub”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (“to cut”). Sense 1.2 (“to force or make (a path, way, etc.) through”) is derived from modern French frayer: see above. The noun is derived from the verb.

From Late Middle English fraien (“to attack, invade; to make an attack; to brawl, fight; to make a loud noise (?); to frighten, terrify; to be frightened of (something), fear”), an aphetic variant of affraien (“to attack, invade; to harass; to brawl, fight; to riot; to reproach; to frighten, terrify; to be frightened of (something), fear; to alarm, disturb; to arouse, awaken, excite”) (whence affray), from Anglo-Norman affraier, afrayer (“to frighten, terrify; to disquiet; to disturb”) [and other forms], a variant of effreier, esfreier [and other forms], and Old French effreer, esfreer (“to frighten, scare; to be afraid”) [and other forms] (modern French effrayer), from Vulgar Latin *exfridāre, from Latin ex- (prefix indicating privation) + Frankish *friþu (“peace”) (from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace, tranquility; refuge, sanctuary”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to love; to please”)).

From Late Middle English frai (“an assault, attack; a brawl, fight; disturbance, uproar; fine for assault or breach of the peace”), an aphetic variant of affrai, effrai (“an assault, attack; a brawl, fight; disturbance, uproar; public disturbance, riot; dismay; fear; something frightening”), then: * from affraien (verb); and * from Anglo-Norman affrai, affrei [and other forms], a variant of effray, effrei, esfrei, esfroi, Middle French effray, esfroi, and Old French effrei, esfrei, esfroi (“breach of the peace, disturbance; noise; dread, terror”) (modern French effroi (“(literary) dread, terror”)), from Old French effreer, esfreer (verb). See further at etymology 2.

Words formed from fray

• antifray
• frayable
• frayed
• fraying
• frayproof
• nonfraying
• unfrayed
• above the fray
• frayboggard
• make-fray

Related words

• affricate
• dentifrice
• fricative
• friction
• affray

Phrases with fray

• Fray Bentos

Words that rhyme with fray

• play
• Santa Fe
• lay
• stay
• gay
• way
• clay
• a
• day
• weigh
• array
• away

Questions about fray

What does fray mean?

Fray means to rub or wear away (something); to cause (something made of strands twisted or woven together, such as cloth or rope) to unravel through friction; also, to irritate (something) through chafing or rubbing; to chafe.

What is fray in Tamil?

Fray in Tamil is சண்டை, நலிவுண்டாக்கு, பிணக்கு. See Fray meaning in Tamil.

How do you use fray in a sentence?

Everything told of long use and quiet slow decay; the very bell-rope in the porch was frayed into a fringe, and hoary with old age.

What part of speech is fray?

Fray can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.

How do you pronounce fray?

Fray is pronounced /fɹeɪ/ (UK).

What is the past tense of fray?

The past tense of fray is frayed.