fret

CEFRC1

/fɹɛt/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
verb
To worry or be unhappy about something for a long time.
02
verb
Extra detail
To chafe or irritate; to worry.

Examples

Jigsaw refers to a fret saw - that's how the name's origin was derived.
Why actually do people fret about bad weather?

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 5

Also pronounced

/fɹet/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

To make rough, to agitate or disturb; to cause to ripple.
Especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat.
In the form fret out: to squander, to waste.

More examples

In context

You need not fret over such trifles.
A wristband frets on the edges.
Rancour frets in the malignant breast.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

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

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

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, Val...
Now though Cider uſed in my Method ſhould not ferment at all, till it come into the Bottle, and then but a little; yet the Cauſe of Fermentation being in a great Degree taken away, the reſt can do no conſiderable Harm to thoſe who drink it, [...] It is in your Power to give the Cider juſt as much fret as you pleaſe, and no more; and that by ſeveral ways: For either you may bottle it ſooner or later, as you pleaſe: Or you may bottle it from two Taps in your Veſſel, and that from the higher Tap will have leſs Fret, and the lower more: [...]
1724, Paul Neile, “Sir Paul Neile’s Discourse of Cider”, in John Evelyn, Silva: Or, A Discourse of Forest-trees, and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty’s Dominions: … In Two Books. …, 5th edition, London: Printed for J. Walthoe [et al.], →OCLC, page 91
The place was a little below Gravesend, quite out of the fret and bustle of the narrower river, and there was not even a steamboat pier to disturb the quiet of this cluster of harmless houses, though they watched upon their beach the passage of great navies down the greatest thoroughfare of England.
1857, [Margaret Oliphant], “The First Day”, in The Days of My Life. An Autobiography. … In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, successors to Henry Colburn, 13, Great Marlborough Street, →OCLC, page 4
When the pitching heat is high, and the yeast is of a good quality and in sufficient abundance, the fermentation proceeds so rapidly and with such energy that it becomes ungovernable; some means must therefore be employed to check the heat. For this purpose coils of pipe, through which water circulates, are fitted up in the tun. Unless this is done the whole of the glutinous constituents of the gyle is not removed in the yeast, and the liquor does not cleanse satisfactorily, in consequence of an after fermentation which sets in, which is technically known as the "fret."
1877, “BEER”, in Encyclopædia of Chemistry Theoretical, Practical, and Analytical as Applied to the Arts and Manufactures, volumes I (Acetic Acid – Gas), Philadelphia, Pa.: J. B. Lippincott & Co., →OCLC, page 315, column 2
Yet then did Gildon dravv his venal quill; / I vviſh'd the man a dinner, and ſate ſtill: / Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret; / I never anſvver'd, I vvas not in debt: / If vvant provok'd, or madneſs made them print, / I vvag'd no vvar with Bedlam or the Mint.
1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 8, lines 146–151

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Origin

verb

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-Europ...

Deep Dive

verb

More examples

Quick test

She tends to blank— over every little problem before a test.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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