frets

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...
2. Agitation of the mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation.
   • He keeps his mind in a continual fret.
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
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...

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....
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....

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