How do you use the word "fret" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "fret" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "fret": You need not fret over such trifles. Jigsaw refers to a fret saw - that's how the name's origin was derived.

Fret Meaning

/fɹɛt/

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbEspecially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.

verbTo chafe or irritate; to worry.

Sentence Examples

You need not fret over such trifles.

Jigsaw refers to a fret saw - that's how the name's origin was derived.

Why actually do people fret about bad weather?

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

sweat stew fuss

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

She tends to ____ over every little problem before a test.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

Please don't ____ over the small details what matters most is that we complete the project on time.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English frēten (“to eat (at), corrode, destroy, annoy”), from Old English fretan (“to eat up, devour; to fret; to break, burst”), from Proto-West Germanic *fraetan, from Proto-Germanic *fraetaną (“to consume, devour, eat up”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- (“for-, prefix meaning ‘completely, fully’”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“forward, toward”)) + *etaną (“to eat”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”)). The senses meaning “to chafe, rub” could also be due to sound-association with Anglo-Norman *freiter (modern dialectal French fretter), from Vulgar Latin *frictāre, frequentative of Latin fricāre, from fricō (“to chafe, rub”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (“to cut”); compare Old French froter (modern French frotter). The chief difficulty is the lack of evidence of the Old French word. Cognates *Dutch vreten, fretten (“to devour, hog, wolf”) *Low German freten (“to eat up”) *German fressen (“to devour, gobble up, guzzle”) *Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (fraitan, “to devour”) *Swedish fräta (“to eat away, corrode, fret”) *Danish fråse (“to gorge”)

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"At the beginning God gaue the dome him ſelfe / That Adam and Eue and all them that ſewed, / Shuld dye down right and dwell in pyne after, / If that they touched a tree and the frute eaten, / Adam afterwarde agaynſt hys defence / freet of that frute, and forſake as it were, / The loue of our lord and his lore bothe, [...]" — [c. 1378-9, [William Langland], “Passus. xviii. de visione”, in The Vision of Pierce Plowman [...] (Cr, B-text) (in Middle English), London: […] Roberte Crowley, […], published 1550, →OCLC, folio lxxxxix, verso:

"Their hearts alreadie fretted and cankered at the very roote, for the last disgrace received." — 1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, chapter XIV, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Roman Historie, containing Such Acts and Occurrents as Passed under Constantius, Iulianus, Iovianus, Valentinianus, and Valens, Emperours, book IX, London: Printed by Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 322:

"And could we let a Light into their Bosoms, we should see them generally fretted and cankered with this secret and corroding Venom." — 1727–1728, Mather Byles et al., edited by Bruce [Ingham] Granger, Proteus Echo (1727–28): A Series of Essays and Poems … that Appeared in the New-England Weekly Journal … (History of Psychology Series; 420), Delmar, N.Y.: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, published 1986, →ISBN, page 75:

"A Perſon of Honour, of a full Body abounding with ſharp Humours, was ſeized with an Herpes on his right Leg. [...] [I]t inflamed and ſwelled very much, many Wheals aroſe, and fretted one into another, with great Excoriation." — 1676, Richard Wiseman, “[A Treatise of Tumors.] Of an Herpes”, in Severall Chirurgical Treatises, London: Printed by E. Flesher and J[ohn] Macock, for R[ichard] Royston bookseller to His Most Sacred Majesty, and B[enjamin] Took at the Ship in St. Paul's Church-yard, →OCLC, page 80:

"We sometimes perform an operation on the under lip [...] in consequence of / Cancer Labii [cancer of the lips], / Which disease generally arises from the use of a pipe, and the manner in which it happens is this:—the adhesive nature of the clay of which the pipe is made, causes it to adhere to the lip; at length the cuticle becomes torn off, and the continued irritation frets the sore into true cancerous disease." — 1823–1824, A[stley Paston] Cooper, “Lecture LII”, in The Lancet. [...] In Two Volumes, 3rd edition, volume II, London: Knight and Lacey, Paternoster-Row; and G. L. Hutchinson, the Lancet office, Strand, published 1826, →OCLC, pages 100–101:

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