fret: Meaning and Definition of

fret

Pronunciation: (fret), [key]
— v., n. fret•ted, fret•ting,
—v.i.
  1. to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like: Fretting about the lost ring isn't going to help.
  2. to cause corrosion; gnaw into something: acids that fret at the strongest metals.
  3. to make a way by gnawing, corrosion, wearing away, etc.: The river frets at its banks until a new channel is formed.
  4. to become eaten, worn, or corroded (often fol. by away): Limestone slowly frets away under pounding by the wind and rain.
  5. to move in agitation or commotion, as water: water fretting over the stones of a brook.
—v.t.
  1. to torment; irritate, annoy, or vex: You mustn't fret yourself about that.
  2. to wear away or consume by gnawing, friction, rust, corrosives, etc.: the ocean fretting its shores.
  3. to form or make by wearing away a substance: The river had fretted an underground passage.
  4. to agitate (water): Strong winds were fretting the channel.
—n.
  1. an irritated state of mind; annoyance; vexation.
  2. erosion; corrosion; gnawing.
  3. a worn or eroded place.

fret

Pronunciation: (fret), [key]
— n., v., fret•ted, fret•ting.
—n.
  1. an interlaced, angular design; fretwork.
  2. an angular design of bands within a border.
  3. a charge composed of two diagonal strips interlacing with and crossing at the center of a mascle.
  4. a piece of decoratively pierced work placed in a clock case to deaden the sound of the mechanism.
—v.t.
  1. to ornament with a fret or fretwork.

fret

Pronunciation: (fret), [key]
— n., v., fret•ted, fret•ting.
—n.
  1. any of the ridges of wood, metal, or string, set across the fingerboard of a guitar, lute, or similar instrument, which help the fingers to stop the strings at the correct points.
—v.t.
  1. to provide with frets.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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