Definition of fret

• n. - See 1st Frith.
• v. t. - To devour.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - To impair; to wear away; to diminish.
• v. t. - To make rough, agitate, or disturb; to cause to ripple; as, to fret the surface of water.
• v. t. - To tease; to irritate; to vex.
• v. i. - To be worn away; to chafe; to fray; as, a wristband frets on the edges.
• v. i. - To eat in; to make way by corrosion.
• v. i. - To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; to rankle; as, rancor frets in the malignant breast.
• v. i. - To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions.
• n. - The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.
• n. - Agitation of mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation; as, he keeps his mind in a continual fret.
• n. - Herpes; tetter.
• n. - 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.
• v. t. - To ornament with raised work; to variegate; to diversify.
• n. - Ornamental work in relief, as carving or embossing. See Fretwork.
• n. - An ornament consisting of smmall fillets or slats intersecting each other or bent at right angles, as in classical designs, or at obilique angles, as often in Oriental art.
• n. - The reticulated headdress or net, made of gold or silver wire, in which ladies in the Middle Ages confined their hair.
• n. - A saltire interlaced with a mascle.
• n. - 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.
• v. t. - To furnish with frets, as an instrument of music.