as in eroding
to damage or diminish by continued friction
constant rubbing against the rock face has badly frayed our climbing rope
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Recent Examples of fraying
January 20 – February 18 Loose ends may be fraying the edges of your nervous system.
—
Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 18 Jan. 2026
Aquarius January 20 – February 18 Loose ends may be fraying the edges of your nervous system.
—Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2026
And what the president is doing is fraying that.
—ABC News, 18 Jan. 2026
That fraying infrastructure includes women’s financial well-being.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fraying
Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 18 Jan. 2026
Aquarius January 20 – February 18 Loose ends may be fraying the edges of your nervous system.
—Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2026
And what the president is doing is fraying that.
—ABC News, 18 Jan. 2026
That fraying infrastructure includes women’s financial well-being.
—Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fraying
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fraying
Verb
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Projects that bypass rigorous upfront analysis often end up relying on emergency mitigation, enforcement-heavy solutions, and costly redesigns, eroding public trust along the way.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
31 Jan. 2026
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When the stock finally gets momentum, Cramer said the sellers appear, eroding the gains.—
Natasha Abellard,
CNBC,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Some people even shared old photos of Indigenous peoples wearing the hoods, noting that the originators of the design kept the fur outward to break cold wind and trap snow.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
9 Jan. 2026
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Chavez posted a photo of Gregory Bovino walking down 33rd Street and Portland Avenue, flanked by three agents wearing masks.—
WCCO Staff,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fraying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fraying. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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