Word.ws English Dictionary

fret

UK/fɹɛt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/fɹet/

fret verb: especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.

fret: especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat
Image: Rs-nourse, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb (1)

fret (third-person singular simple present frets, present participle fretting, simple past fretted or (archaic) fret or (archaic) frate, past participle fretted or (archaic) fret or (archaic) frate or (usually in compounds) fretten)

  1. (obsolete, poetic, transitive) Especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.
    • At the beginning God gaue the dome him ſelfe / That Adam and Eue and all them that ſewed, / Shuld dye down right and dwell in pyne after, / If that they touched a tree and the frute eaten, / Adam afterwarde agaynſt hys defence / freet of that frute, and forſake as it were, / The loue of our lord...[c. 1378-9, [William Langland], “Passus. xviii. de visione”, in The Vision of Pierce Plowman [...] (Cr, B-text) (in Middle English), London: […] Roberte Crowley, […], published 1550, →OCLC, folio...
    • Their hearts alreadie fretted and cankered at the very roote, for the last disgrace received.1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, chapter XIV, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Roman Historie, containing Such Acts and Occurrents as Passed under Constantius, Iulianus, Iovianus, Valentinianus, and...
  2. (transitive) To chafe or irritate; to worry.
    • A Perſon of Honour, of a full Body abounding with ſharp Humours, was ſeized with an Herpes on his right Leg. [...] [I]t inflamed and ſwelled very much, many Wheals aroſe, and fretted one into another, with great Excoriation.1676, Richard Wiseman, “[A Treatise of Tumors.] Of an Herpes”, in Severall Chirurgical Treatises, London: Printed by E. Flesher and J[ohn] Macock, for R[ichard] Royston bookseller to His Most Sacred...
    • We sometimes perform an operation on the under lip [...] in consequence of / Cancer Labii [cancer of the lips], / Which disease generally arises from the use of a pipe, and the manner in which it happens is this:—the adhesive nature of the clay of which the pipe is made, causes it to adhere to the...1823–1824, A[stley Paston] Cooper, “Lecture LII”, in The Lancet. [...] In Two Volumes, 3rd edition, volume II, London: Knight and Lacey, Paternoster-Row; and G. L. Hutchinson, the Lancet office...
  3. (transitive) To make rough, to agitate or disturb; to cause to ripple.
    • the brooks fretting down their channels
    • Don't fret the surface of the lake.
  4. (transitive) In the form fret out: to squander, to waste.
    • Yorke hereupon conſults with his ſpeciall friends; [...] how Yorke might get the Crowne of England, and for that cauſe how to ruine or fret out the Duke of Sommerſet; who ſtanding, they were to looke for ſtrong oppoſition.1611, John Speed, “Henrie the Sixth, King of England, and France, Lord of Ireland: The Three and Fiftieth Monarch of England, His Raigne, Actes, and Issve”, in The History of Great Britaine under the...
    • We are all hurrying down the one common stream to the great ocean of eternity: but are we performing our social duties, as citizens of the world, in sculking away into holes and corners, to fret out time and life, because God has judged fit to withdraw the favourite toy he lent us—not making us...1835, Louisa Sidney Stanhope, “Conclusion”, in Sydney Beresford. A Tale of the Day. … In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, Paternoster-Row, →OCLC, page 274
  5. (ambitransitive) To gnaw; to consume, to eat away.
    • VVhen thrid of life is almoſt fret in twaine,
      To giue it ſtrength breeds thankes, and wonders too.1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act IV
    • The Mines are cold where the outward Air comes in; but where not, warm. The greateſt trouble they have is by duſt, which ſpoileth their Lungs and Stomachs, and frets their Skins.1677, Edward Browne, “A Journey from Vienna in Austria to Hamburg”, in An Account of Several Travels through a Great Part of Germany: In Four Journeys. …, London: Printed for Benj[amin] Tooke, and...
  6. (ambitransitive) To mine by agitating or eating away at (ore in the bank of a river).
    • Aided by its burden of detrital matter, the river frets away the rocks along its banks and thus tends to widen its channel; while, at the same time, the coarse sediment scratching along the bottom, helps to tear it up and thus deepen the bed of the river.1897, Thomas Henry Huxley, Physiography: An Introduction to the Study of Nature, page 134
    • […]banks of rivers, with the washings of the water, there were divers times fretted out big pieces of gold. […](Can we date this quote?), Thomas Curtis (of Grove house sch, Islington), The London encyclopaedia, or, Universal dictionary of science, art, literature, and practical mechanics, by the orig. ed. of...
  7. (ambitransitive) To be chafed or irritated; to be angry or vexed; to utter peevish expressions through irritation or worry.
    • Fret not thy ſelfe becauſe of euill doers, neither bee thou enuious againſt the workers of iniquitie.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 37:1
    • For when he knew his Rival freed and gone, / He ſwells with Wrath; he makes outrageous Moan: / He frets, he fumes, he ſtares, he ſtamps the Ground; / The hollow Tow'r with Clamours rings around: [...]1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, book I, page 17
  8. (intransitive) To be worn away; to chafe; to fray.
    • A wristband frets on the edges.
    • This, as Maury remarks, "suggested the idea that there was no running water nor abrading forces at play upon the bed of the deep sea, and consequently, if ever an electric cord were lodged upon the telegraphic plateau, there it would lie in cold abstraction; without anything to fret, chafe or wear...1893, A[lexander] Fraser-Macdonald, “The North Atlantic Viewed as a Region Traversed by Our Ocean Railways”, in Our Ocean Railways: Or, The Rise, Progress, and Development of Ocean Steam Navigation...
  9. (intransitive) To be anxious, to worry.
    • With this answer Elizabeth was forced to be content; but her own opinion continued the same, and she left him disappointed and sorry. It was not in her nature, however, to increase her vexations by dwelling on them. She was confident of having performed her duty, and to fret over unavoidable evils...1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XVIII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 218–219
    • Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. But, after all, I shouldn't have expected nothing different. When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get...1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
  10. (intransitive) To be agitated; to rankle; to be in violent commotion.
    • Rancour frets in the malignant breast.
    • Beyond Tabor, the ſmall river Luſchnitze frets over craggy rocks, covered with thick woods, through which you continue your journey for three German miles, [...]1789, John Gillies, chapter II, in A View of the Reign of Frederick II. of Prussia; with a Parallel between the Prince and Philip II. of Macedon, Printed for A[ndrew] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, in...
  11. (intransitive) To have secondary fermentation (fermentation occurring after the conversion of sugar to alcohol in beers and wine) take place.
    • If their Cherries are full ripe and ſweet, they put only a Pound and an half of good Sugar to each gallon of Liquor, ſtir it well together, and cover it cloſe, and ſtir it no more till the next Day, then pour it carefully off the Lees as before; then let it ſtand again, and do the ſame the next Day...1725, [Noël] Chomel, “CHERRY-WINE”, in R[ichard] Bradley, editor, Dictionaire Oeconomique: Or, The Family Dictionary. […], volume I (A–H), London: […] D[aniel] Midwinter, […], →OCLC
    • It is important to allow beer to flatten, after it has ceased working. This is accomplished by leaving the casks open, when the small floating particles of yeast part with their fixed air, lose their buoyancy, and sink to the bottom. [...] The beer having thus deposited its remaining yeast will not...1856, “The Art of Brewing”, in The Brewer: A Familiar Treatise on the Art of Brewing, with Directions for the Selection of Malt and Hops, &c., &c.: Instructions for Making Cider and British Wines...

Noun (1)

fret (plural frets)

  1. Agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or some other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.
    • Now though Cider uſed in my Method ſhould not ferment at all, till it come into the Bottle, and then but a little; yet the Cauſe of Fermentation being in a great Degree taken away, the reſt can do no conſiderable Harm to thoſe who drink it, [...] It is in your Power to give the Cider juſt as much...1724, Paul Neile, “Sir Paul Neile’s Discourse of Cider”, in John Evelyn, Silva: Or, A Discourse of Forest-trees, and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty’s Dominions: … In Two Books. …, 5th...
    • The place was a little below Gravesend, quite out of the fret and bustle of the narrower river, and there was not even a steamboat pier to disturb the quiet of this cluster of harmless houses, though they watched upon their beach the passage of great navies down the greatest thoroughfare of England.1857, [Margaret Oliphant], “The First Day”, in The Days of My Life. An Autobiography. … In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, successors to Henry Colburn, 13, Great...
  2. Agitation of the mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation.
    • He keeps his mind in a continual fret.
    • Yet then did Gildon dravv his venal quill; / I vviſh'd the man a dinner, and ſate ſtill: / Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret; / I never anſvver'd, I vvas not in debt: / If vvant provok'd, or madneſs made them print, / I vvag'd no vvar with Bedlam or the Mint.1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 8, lines 146–151
  3. Herpes; tetter (“any of various pustular skin conditions”).
    • Vesiculæ, or vesicles, are small, circumscribed elevations of the scarf-skin, containing serum, at first (both in their coats and contents) transparent, afterwards white and opaque, and terminating in the formation of scurf or thin scales. Under this head are ranged varicella (chicken-pox)...1860, Robert J[acob] Jordan, chapter I, in Skin Diseases and Their Remedies, London: John Churchill, New Burlington Street, →OCLC, book I (Diseases of the Skin), page 57
    • To cure Gripes in Horses. This disorder goes by different names in different districts of the country; as fret, from the uneasiness attending it; bots, from its being thought to arise from these animals or worms, etc. [...] In speaking of the medicine for gripes, or the flatulent colic sometimes...1867 April 25, [Colin Mackenzie], “Farriery”, in Mackenzie’s Ten Thousand Receipts, in All the Useful and Domestic Arts; Constituting a Complete and Practical Library, …, new, carefully revised and...
  4. (in plural) The worn sides of riverbanks, where ores or stones containing them accumulate after being washed down from higher ground, which thus indicate to miners the locality of veins of ore.
    • Then we obſerve the Frets in the Banks of Rivers that are newly made by any great Land-Flood, which uſually are then very clean, to ſee, if happily we can diſcover any metalline Stones in the Sides and Bottoms thereof, together with the Caſt of the Country (i.e. any earth of a different colour from...1716, “[The Tin Mines in Devonshire and Cornwal] [marginal note]”, in John Lowthorp, editor, The Philosophical Transactions, and Collections, to the End of the Year 1700, Abridg’d and Dispos’d under...
    • After any great land-flood, in which it is supposed there are usually some new frets made in the banks of the rivers, these are carefully examined, to see whether any metalline stones may be found […] When the frets in the sides of rivers have been traced in vain, after searcher after a mine goes...1753, Ephraim Chambers, A Supplement to Mr. Chambers's Cyclopaedia: Or, Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. In Two Volumes. ...

Noun (2)

fret (plural frets)

  1. An ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines, often in relief.
    • Went to visit our good neighbor, Mr. Bohun, whose whole house is a cabinet of all elegancies, especially Indian; [...] [A]bove all, his lady's cabinet is adorned on the fret, ceiling, and chimney-piece with Mr. Gibbons's best carving.1682 July 30, John Evelyn, edited by William Bray, The Diary of John Evelyn: Edited from the Original MSS. [...] In Two Volumes (Universal Classics Library), volume II, New York, N.Y.; London: M....
    • Remove spills from grill frets with a cloth and brush the frets with a stiff brush when dry and cold.1943, Homes and Gardens, volume 25, London: [s.n.], published 1944, →OCLC, page 40
  2. A saltire interlaced with a mascle.
    • DIAPERED, or Diapre, in heraldry, the dividing of a field in planes, like fret-work, and filling the ſame with variety of figures. This chiefly obtains on bordures, which are diapered or fretted over, and the frets charged with things proper for bordures.1764, Temple Henry Croker, Thomas Williams, Samuel Clark [et al.], “DIAPERED”, in The Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, volume I, London: Printed for the authors, and sold by J. Wilson & J....

Verb (2)

fret (third-person singular simple present frets, present participle fretting, simple past and past participle fretted)

  1. (transitive) To decorate or ornament, especially with an interlaced or interwoven pattern, or (architecture) with carving or relief (raised) work.
    • In a long purple pall, whose ſkirt with gold, / Was fretted all about, ſhe was arayd, [...]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 37, page 317
  2. (transitive) To form a pattern on; to variegate.
    • Decius. Here lyes the Eaſt: doth not the Day breake heere? [...] Cin[na]. O pardon, Sir, it doth; and yon grey Lines, / That fret the Clouds, are Meſſengers of Day.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • The sun shone brilliantly through the trembling leaves, birds of many colors flitted from spray to spray, butterflies and bright insects crossed the fretted work of light and shade.1882 July 29, J. Henry Shorthouse, “The Marquis Jeanne Hyacinth De St. Palaye [from Macmillan’s Magazine]”, in Littel’s Living Age, volume XXXIX (Fifth Series; volume CLIV overall), number 1988...
  3. (transitive) To cut through with a fretsaw, to create fretwork.

Noun (3)

fret (plural frets)

  1. One of the pieces of metal, plastic or wood across the neck of a guitar or other string instrument that marks where a finger should be positioned to depress a string as it is played.
    • The long-necked Egyptian Nefer was certainly depicted in the 4th dynasty; and wall-painting of the time of Moses, preserved in the British Museum, shows that it then had frets.1880, A. J. H[ipkins], “LUTE”, in George Grove, editor, A Dictionary of Music and Musicians (A.D. 1450–1880) [...] In Three Volumes, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 175, column 2
    • The frets of the lute marked whole tones, while those of the guitar were a semi-tone apart.1916, “History of the Orchestra”, in Daniel Gregory Mason, editor-in-chief, Benjamin Lambord, editors, The Orchestra and Orchestral Music (The Art of Music: A Comprehensive Library of Information for...
  2. (dialectal, obsolete) A ferrule, a ring.

Verb (3)

fret (third-person singular simple present frets, present participle fretting, simple past and past participle fretted)

  1. To bind, to tie, originally with a loop or ring.
  2. (transitive) # To fit frets on to (a musical instrument).
    • to fret a guitar
  3. (transitive) To press down the string behind a fret.
    • Note that right next to the headstock, the boxes may utilize some open notes in place of fretting with the pointer finger because the nut will effectively fret the notes for you[…].2015, Drew Turrill, “Step by Step Exercises”, in Don’t Fret – Learn Lead Guitar the Easy Way, [s.l.]: BookBaby, →ISBN

Noun (4)

fret (plural frets)

  1. A channel, a strait; a fretum.
    • I came in fine to the fourth part of the world, commonly called America, which by all deſcriptions I found to be an Iſland enuironed around about with the Sea, hauing on the Southſide of it, the frete, or ſtraight of Magellan, [...]1589, Humfrey Gilbert [i.e., Humphrey Gilbert], “A Discourse Written by Sir Humfrey Gilbert Knight, to Prooue a Passage by the Northwest to Cathaia, and the East Indies”, in Richard Hakluyt, The...
    • The river Velino, after having found its way from among the rocks where it falls, runs into the Nera. The channel of this laſt river is white with rocks, and the ſurface of it, for a long ſpace, covered with froth and bubbles; for it runs all along upon the fret, and is ſtill breaking againſt the...1721, Joseph Addison, “Pesaro, Fano, Senigallia, Ancona, Loretto, &c. to Rome”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq, volumes II (Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the...

Noun (5)

fret (plural frets)

  1. (rare) A channel or passage created by the sea.

Noun (6)

fret (plural frets)

  1. (Northumbria) A fog or mist at sea, or coming inland from the sea.
    • The wind brings a fret off the ocean; not cold, but achingly damp.2008, Trezza Azzopardi, Winterton Blue: A Novel, page 14

Noun (7) capitalized: FRET

FRET (countable and uncountable, plural FRETs)

  1. Förster resonance energy transfer
  2. fluorescence resonance energy transfer, which is a type of the Förster phenomenon where one or both of the partners in the energy transfer are fluorescent chromophores
    • FRET interactions among four dyes on DNA have been recorded with a confocal microscope using photodiodes for single point detection.2010, DeRocco et al., "Four-color single-molecule fluorescence with noncovalent dye labeling to monitor dynamic multimolecular complexes", BioTechniques, vol 49, no 5, pg. 807.

fret meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

fret in Hindi

one of the pieces of metal, etc., across the neck of a guitar or other string instrument
परदा pardā

fret in Urdu

گھسنا, ہڑکنا, کڑھنا, مرجھانا, تنگ کرنا, تیزاب زدہ ہونا

fret in Bengali

fret
পর্দা porda

fret in Malayalam

ക്ലേശിക്കുക, ക്ഷോഭിപ്പിക്കുക, ഉരയ്ക്കുക, പീഡിപ്പിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
fret in Kannada
ರೇಗು, ಸಿಡಿಮಿಡಿಗೊಳ್ಳು, ಕೆಂಡಕಾರು, ತಳಮಳಗೊಳ್ಳು
fret in Punjabi
ਧੁਖਣਾ dhukhṇā
fret in Gujarati
પરદો pardo
fret in Tagalog
bidya
fret in Persian
دستان dastān
fret in Vietnamese
phím

Examples of fret in a sentence

  • And could we let a Light into their Bosoms, we should see them generally fretted and cankered with this secret and corroding Venom.1727–1728, Mather Byles et al., edited by Bruce [Ingham] Granger, Proteus Echo (1727–28): A Series of Essays and Poems … that Appeared in...
  • It fretted the young man even to think of such a possibility.1882 June, [Margaret Oliphant], “The Ladies Lindores.—Part III.”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CXXXI (American edition, volume...
  • She was confident of having performed her duty, and to fret over unavoidable evils, or augment them by anxiety, was no part of her disposition.1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XVIII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton...
  • When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with fret

Forms of fret

Verb
third-person singular presentfrets
present participlefretting
pastfretted
past participlefretted
past participle in-compounds usuallyfretten
past (archaic)fret
past (archaic)frate
past participle (archaic)fret
past participle (archaic)frate
Noun
pluralfrets

Past tense of fret: fretted

Plural of fret: frets

Origin of fret

From Middle English frēten (“to eat (at), corrode, destroy, annoy”), from Old English fretan (“to eat up, devour; to fret; to break, burst”), from Proto-West Germanic *fraetan, from Proto-Germanic *fraetaną (“to consume, devour, eat up”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- (“for-, prefix meaning ‘completely, fully’”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward, toward”)) + *etaną (“to eat”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”)). The senses meaning “to chafe, rub” could also be due to sound-association with Anglo-Norman *freiter (modern dialectal French fretter), from Vulgar Latin *frictāre, frequentative of Latin fricāre, from fricō (“to chafe, rub”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (“to cut”); compare Old French froter (modern French frotter). The chief difficulty is the lack of evidence of the Old French word. Cognates *Dutch vreten, fretten (“to devour, hog, wolf”) *Low German freten (“to eat up”) *German fressen (“to devour, gobble up, guzzle”) *Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (fraitan, “to devour”) *Swedish fräta (“to eat away, corrode, fret”) *Danish fråse (“to gorge”)

From Middle English frēten (“to decorate”), from Old French freté, freter, fretter (“to fret (decorate with an interlacing pattern)”), from Old French fret (from fraindre (“to break”), from Latin frangō (“to break, shatter”), + Old French -er (suffix forming verbs) (from Latin -āre, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃enh₂- (“to burden, charge”)).

From Middle English freten (“to bind”), from Old French freter, from frete (“ferrule, ring”) (modern French frette). The origin of the music senses are uncertain; they are possibly from frete or from fret (“to chafe, rub”).

Words formed from fret

Phrases with fret

Words that rhyme with fret

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about fret

What does fret mean?
Fret means especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.
What is fret in Hindi?
Fret in Hindi is परदा (pardā). See Fret meaning in Hindi.
How do you use fret in a sentence?
And could we let a Light into their Bosoms, we should see them generally fretted and cankered with this secret and corroding Venom.
What part of speech is fret?
Fret can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce fret?
Fret is pronounced /fɹɛt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of fret?
The past tense of fret is fretted.

Words near fret in the dictionary

  1. fressed
  2. fresser
  3. fressers
  4. fresses
  5. fressing
  6. fret
  7. fret saw
  8. fret saws
  9. fret the gizzard
  10. fret-sawyer
  11. fret-sawyers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fret (page history and authors); FRET (page history and authors); fret (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); পর্দা (Bengali) (page history and authors); fret (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fret (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਧੁਖਣਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); પરદો (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-fret.ogg, en-au-fret.ogg.

Cite this entry: “fret.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fret. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.