| 释义 |
fret
I. \ˈfret, usu -ed.+V\ verb
(fretted ; fretted ; fretting ; frets)
Etymology: Middle English freten, from Old English fretan; akin to Old High German frezzan to devour, Gothic fraitan; all from a prehistoric East Germanic-West Germanic compound whose first and second constituents respectively are represented by Gothic fra- for- and by Gothic itan to eat — more at for-, eat
transitive verb
1.
a. obsolete : eat, devour
b. archaic : consume
< our thin wardrobe eaten and fretted … by moths — Charles Lamb >
2.
a. : to cause to suffer emotional wear and tear : trouble persistently : vex, torment, worry
< misgiving fretted him — Carson McCullers >
< don't you fret yourself about me — J.C.Powys >
b. : to bring by bothering or tormenting
< fretted to irritation by the remarks >
< fretted out of her coma by a violent thirstiness — Florence Gould >
3.
a. : to eat into or wear away : corrode
< the acid fretted the metal >
< the river fretted the soft banks >
< rainwater frets the rocks >
also : to make irregular especially along an edge as if by eating : fray, ravel
< the horizon was fretted by long thin lines of spruce and fir — O.S.J.Gogarty >
< honeycombed and fretted and pocked — M.S.Douglas >
b. : rub, chafe, gall
< a harness strap was fretting the horse so that he became almost unmanageable >
c. : to diminish or lessen by slow consumption or using up
< his fretted fortunes gave him hope and fear — Shakespeare >
d. : to make by wearing away a substance
< the stream fretted a channel for itself through the soft earth >
4. : to pass, occupy, or waste (as time or life) in fretting
< a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage — Shakespeare >
— often used with away or out
5. : roughen, agitate, disturb : cause to ripple
< fret the surface of the lake >
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to eat into something : make a way by wearing away or off or by corrosion
b. : rankle
< the insult fretted in his breast for some time >
c. : to affect something as if by gnawing or biting : grate
< the … urgent voice fretted at his nerves — Graham Greene >
< the familiar objects fretted on his mood — S.E.White >
2. : wear, corrode
< marble one expects to fret away, for it is merely fused limestone, very subject to the solvent action of rain — Sydney (Australia) Bulletin >
: chafe
< his back where the harness rubbed began to fret >
: fray, ravel
3.
a. : to become vexed, worried, impatient, or irritated
< fretting over the high cost of feeding their families — Vance Packard >
< when I fretted with impatience — Isaac Rosenfeld >
b. of running water : to become agitated
< a brook fretting over rocks >
c. : to occupy oneself fretfully or impatiently : fuss
< the cook had dinner simmering on the stove … and fretted with brooms, linens, mops — Frederick Way >
d. : to feel impatient or irritated and usually passive opposition
< tribes of hostile Indians who fretted against forward thrust of settlement — V.L.Parrington >
< the younger son, fretting against parental opposition — C.D.Lewis >
4. now dialect England : ferment, work
< sweet wine is liable to fret >
Synonyms: see worry
II. noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English, action of gnawing, from freten to eat, devour, gnaw — more at fret I
1.
a. : the action of eroding : a wasting away or being wasted away as if by being gnawed or eaten
b. : a worn or eroded spot (as in an asphalt highway or the insulation of an electric wire)
c. obsolete : a spot of decay : ulcer
2.
a. : an agitation of mind marked by complaint and impatience : irritation, fretting
< the cook was in a marked fret because the potatoes had burned >
< trying to curb his constant worry and fret >
b. : something that frets the mind or temper
< one of those still moments when the small frets vanish — D.H.Lawrence >
< the great peace beyond all this turmoil and fret — L.P.Smith >
< relief from domestic frets — S.H.Adams >
3. obsolete : flurry, squall
4. : fermentation effervescence (as of liquor)
5. : chrysal
III. transitive verb
(fretted ; fretted ; fretting ; frets)
Etymology: Middle English fretten, from Middle French freter to decorate with interlaced designs, bind with a ferrule, from Old French, from frete ferrule
1.
a. : to decorate with interlaced designs : embroider with gold or silver
b. : to mark decoratively especially with a network of things : form a pattern or design upon
< the air was fretted with a kaleidoscopic network of swifts — William Beebe >
2. : to enrich (as a ceiling) with embossed or pierced carved patterns
IV. noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French frete interlaced design on a shield, from freter to decorate with interlaced designs
1. : an ornamental network; especially : a medieval net of gold, silver, or jewels for a woman's headdress
2. : an ornament or ornamental work often in relief consisting of small straight bars intersecting one another in right or oblique angles or often of solid slats intersecting each other
3.
a. : a heraldic device consisting of narrow bends crossed saltirewise and interlaced
b. : a heraldic device consisting of two narrow bends in saltire interlaced with a voided lozenge
 [fret 2]
V. noun
(-s)
Etymology: probably from Middle French frete ferrule, from Old French, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Old English fetor fetter — more at fetter
: one of a series of ridges of metal, ivory, or other material fixed across the fingerboard of a guitar or similar instrument
VI. transitive verb
(fretted ; fretted ; fretting ; frets)
: to furnish with frets (as a stringed instrument)
VII. noun
(-s)
Etymology: Latin fretum — more at fretum
archaic : strait
VIII. transitive verb
: to depress (the strings of a musical instrument) against the frets
intransitive verb
: to fret the strings of a musical instrument |