Definition of fray

• n. - Affray; broil; contest; combat.
• v. t. - To frighten; to terrify; to alarm.
• v. t. - To bear the expense of; to defray.
• v. t. - To rub; to wear off, or wear into shreds, by rubbing; to fret, as cloth; as, a deer is said to fray her head.
• v. i. - To rub.
• v. i. - To wear out or into shreads, or to suffer injury by rubbing, as when the threads of the warp or of the woof wear off so that the cross threads are loose; to ravel; as, the cloth frays badly.
• n. - A fret or chafe, as in cloth; a place injured by rubbing.