fret
Pronunciation: (fret), [key]
— v., n. fret•ted, fret•ting,
—v.i.
- to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like: Fretting about the lost ring isn't going to help.
- to cause corrosion; gnaw into something: acids that fret at the strongest metals.
- to make a way by gnawing, corrosion, wearing away, etc.: The river frets at its banks until a new channel is formed.
- to become eaten, worn, or corroded (often fol. by away): Limestone slowly frets away under pounding by the wind and rain.
- to move in agitation or commotion, as water: water fretting over the stones of a brook.
—v.t.
- to torment; irritate, annoy, or vex: You mustn't fret yourself about that.
- to wear away or consume by gnawing, friction, rust, corrosives, etc.: the ocean fretting its shores.
- to form or make by wearing away a substance: The river had fretted an underground passage.
- to agitate (water): Strong winds were fretting the channel.
—n.
- an irritated state of mind; annoyance; vexation.
- erosion; corrosion; gnawing.
- a worn or eroded place.
fret
Pronunciation: (fret), [key]
— n., v., fret•ted, fret•ting.
—n.
- an interlaced, angular design; fretwork.
- an angular design of bands within a border.
- a charge composed of two diagonal strips interlacing with and crossing at the center of a mascle.
- a piece of decoratively pierced work placed in a clock case to deaden the sound of the mechanism.
—v.t.
- to ornament with a fret or fretwork.
fret
Pronunciation: (fret), [key]
— n., v., fret•ted, fret•ting.
—n.
- 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.
- to provide with frets.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.