FRET, v.t. [L. rodo, rosi, rado, to scrape. To fret or gnaw gives the sense of unevenness, roughness, in substances; the like appearance is given to fluids by agitation.]

1. The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water; small undulations continually repeated. Addison.
2. Work raised in protuberances; or a kind of knot consisting of two lists or small fillets interlaced, used as an ornament in architecture.
3. Agitation of mind; commotion of temper; irritation; as, he keeps his mind in a continual fret. Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret. Pope.
4. A short piece of wire fixed on the finger-board of a guitar, &c., which being pressed against the strings varies the tone. Busby.
5. In heraldry, a bearing composed of bars crossed and interlaced.

A frith – which see.

1. To be worn away; to be corroded. Any substance will in time fret away by friction.
2. To eat or wear in; to make way by attrition or corrosion. Many wheals arose, and fretted one into another with great excoriation. Wiseman.
3. To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; as, the rancor that frets in the malignant breast.
4. To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions. He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground. Dryden.

1. To rub; to wear away a substance by friction; as, to fret cloth; to fret a piece of gold or other metal. Newton.
2. To corrode; to gnaw; to eat away; as, a worm frets the planks of a ship.
3. To impair; to wear away. By starts, / His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear. Shak.
4. To form into raised work. Milton.
5. To variegate; to diversify. Yon gray lines / That fret the clouds, are messengers of day. Shak.
6. To agitate violently. Shak.
7. To agitate; to disturb; to make rough; to cause to ripple; as, to fret the surface of water.
8. To tease; to irritate; to vex; to make angry. Fret not thyself because of evil doers. Ps. xxxvii.
9. To wear away; to chafe; to gall. Let not a saddle or harness fret the skin of your horse.

To furnish with frets, as an instrument of music. As. Res.

1. See 1st Frith.
2. To devour.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   The sow frete the child right in the cradle. Chaucer.

3. To be worn away; to chafe; to fray; as, a wristband frets on the edges.
4. The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.
   
   
   Addison.
5. To ornament with raised work; to variegate; to diversify.
   
   

   Whose skirt with gold was fretted all about. Spenser.

   Yon gray lines,
   That fret the clouds, are messengers of day. Shak.

6. Ornamental work in relief, as carving or embossing. See Fretwork.
7. A saltire interlaced with a mascle.
8. To furnish with frets, as an instrument of music.
9. To rub; to wear away by friction; to chafe; to gall; hence, to eat away; to gnaw; as, to fret cloth; to fret a piece of gold or other metal; a worm frets the plants of a ship.
   
   

   With many a curve my banks I fret. Tennyson.

10. To eat in; to make way by corrosion.
    
    

    Many wheals arose, and fretted one into another with great excoriation. Wiseman.

11. Agitation of mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation; as, he keeps his mind in a continual fret.
    
    

    Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret. Pope.

12. An ornament consisting of small fillets or slats intersecting each other or bent at right angles, as in classical designs, or at oblique angles, as often in Oriental art.
    
    

    His lady's cabinet is a adorned on the fret, ceiling, and chimney-piece with . . . carving. Evelyn.

13. A short piece of wire, or other material fixed across the finger board of a guitar or a similar instrument, to indicate where the finger is to be placed.
14. To impair; to wear away; to diminish.
    
    

    By starts
    His fretted fortunes give him hope and fear. Shak.

15. To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; to rankle; as, rancor frets in the malignant breast.
16. Herpes; tetter.
    
    
    Dunglison.
17. The reticulated headdress or net, made of gold or silver wire, in which ladies in the Middle Ages confined their hair.
    
    

    A fret of gold she had next her hair. Chaucer.

    Fret saw, a saw with a long, narrow blade, used in cutting frets, scrolls, etc.; a scroll saw; a keyhole saw; a compass saw.

18. To make rough, agitate, or disturb; to cause to ripple; as, to fret the surface of water.
19. To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions.
    
    

    He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground. Dryden.

20. The worn sides of river banks, where ores, or stones containing them, accumulate by being washed down from the hills, and thus indicate to the miners the locality of the veins.
21. To tease; to irritate; to vex.
    
    

    Fret not thyself because of evil doers. Ps. xxxvii. 1.