: to press (the strings of a stringed instrument) against the frets
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Fret and Eating
The meat-and-potatoes meaning of fret is "to eat." The verb is used literally, as in "Mothsfretted the clothing," but more often figuratively to describe actions that corrode or wear away. A river "frets away" at its banks, or something might be said to be "fretted out" with time or age. Fret also applies to emotional experiences so that something that "eats away at someone" is "fretting the heart or mind."
Verb (1)
over the span of thousands of years, the annual spring runoff fretted the rock, forming a deep channel
don't let the girth fret the horse's belly or you won't be able to ride him
don't fret over whether it will be sunny tomorrow, as there's nothing we can do about it
the stiff, starchy collar was fretting my neck, and I couldn't wait to change out of that costume Noun (1)
one of my customers always gets into a fret if I'm so much as 15 minutes late delivering his newspaper
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Economic confidence remains depressed and consumers continue to fret about high price levels, dogging the Biden administration, even though inflation has been cooling and the job market is strong.—Jeanna Smialek, New York Times, 29 May 2024 Like the doe-eyed poets of 100 years ago or the fretting journalists of 65 years ago, today the ascendant left rarely champions liberty, instead favoring the new idols of fairness, inclusion and social justice.—Bryan C. Donohue, Baltimore Sun, 17 Apr. 2024
Noun
But 60% fret that the technology could add to their stress and burnout, and roughly the same number feel insecure about their job.—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 31 May 2024 The sound of the dulcimer has resonated with me for most of my life, the frets of its fretboard like notches in my own timeline.—Ayla Samli, Longreads, 14 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for fret
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fret.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Verb (1) and Noun (1)
Middle English, to devour, fret, from Old English fretan to devour; akin to Old High German frezzan to devour, ezzan to eat — more at eat
Verb (2)
Middle English, back-formation from fret, fretted adorned, interwoven, from Anglo-French fretté, past participle of fretter to tie, probably from Vulgar Latin *firmitare, from Latin firmus firm
Noun (3)
perhaps from Middle French frete ferrule, from freter
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