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fretting

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fretting

 

  1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fret  \Fret\  (fr[e^]t),  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Fretted};  p.  pr  & 
  vb  n.  {Fretting}.]  [OE.  freten  to  eat,  consume;  AS  fretan, 
  for  foretan;  pref.  for-  +  etan  to  eat;  akin  to  D.  vreten 
  OHG.  frezzan  G.  fressen,  Sw  fr["a]ta,  Goth.  fra-itan.  See 
  {For},  and  {Eat},  v.  t.] 
  1.  To  devour.  [Obs.] 
 
  The  sow  frete  the  child  right  in  the  cradle. 
  --Chaucer. 
 
  2.  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. 
 
  3.  To  impair;  to  wear  away  to  diminish. 
 
  By  starts  His  fretted  fortunes  give  him  hope  and 
  fear.  --Shak. 
 
  4.  To  make  rough,  agitate,  or  disturb;  to  cause  to  ripple; 
  as  to  fret  the  surface  of  water. 
 
  5.  To  tease;  to  irritate;  to  vex. 
 
  Fret  not  thyself  because  of  evil  doers.  --Ps. 
  xxxvii  1.




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