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Fray vs Fret - What's the difference?

fray | fret |

In intransitive terms the difference between fray and fret

is that fray is to rub while fret is to worry or be anxious.

In transitive terms the difference between fray and fret

is that fray is to bear the expense of; to defray while fret is to chafe or irritate; to worry.

As an initialism FRET is

förster resonance energy transfer.

fray

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) frai, aphetic variant of affray.

Noun

(en noun)
  • Affray; broil; contest; combat; brawl; melee.
  • Though they did not know the reason for the dispute, they did not hesitate to leap into the fray .
  • * Shakespeare
  • Who began this bloody fray ?
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2010 , date=December 29 , author=Mark Vesty , title=Wigan 2 - 2 Arsenal , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Wigan, unbeaten in five games at the DW Stadium, looked well in control but the catalyst for Arsenal's improvement finally came when Diaby left the field with a calf injury and Jack Wilshere came into the fray , bringing some much needed determination and urgency to lacklustre Arsenal. }}
  • (archaic) fright
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) fraien, from (etyl) frayer, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To unravel; used particularly for the edge of something made of cloth, or the end of a rope.
  • The ribbon frayed at the cut end.
  • (figuratively) To cause exhaustion, wear out (a person's mental strength).
  • The stressful day ended in frayed nerves. (Metaphorical use; nerves are visualised as strings)
  • (archaic) frighten; alarm
  • * 1662 , , Book II, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 63:
  • "Besides, all the wit and Philosophy in the world can never demonstrate, that the killing and slaughtering of a Beast is anymore then the striking of a Bush where a Bird's Nest is, where you fray away the Bird, and then seize upon the empty Nest."
  • * Spenser
  • What frays ye, that were wont to comfort me affrayed?
  • To bear the expense of; to defray.
  • * Massinger
  • The charge of my most curious and costly ingredients frayed , I shall acknowledge myself amply satisfied.
  • To rub.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • We can show the marks he made / When 'gainst the oak his antlers frayed .

    fret

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To devour, consume; eat.
  • * (rfdate)— Piers Ploughman.
  • Adam freet of that fruit, And forsook the love of our Lord.
  • * Wiseman
  • Many wheals arose, and fretted one into another with great excoriation.
  • (transitive, and, intransitive) To gnaw, consume, eat away.
  • To be worn away; to chafe; to fray.
  • A wristband frets on the edges.
  • To cut through with fretsaw, create fretwork.
  • To chafe or irritate; to worry.
  • To worry or be anxious.
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.}}
  • To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions.
  • *
  • *:Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
  • * Dryden
  • He frets , he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground.
  • To make rough, agitate, or disturb; to cause to ripple.
  • to fret the surface of water
  • To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; to rankle.
  • Rancour frets in the malignant breast.
  • (music) To press down the string behind a fret.
  • To ornament with raised work; to variegate; to diversify.
  • * Spenser
  • whose skirt with gold was fretted all about
  • * Shakespeare
  • Yon grey lines, / That fret the clouds, are messengers of day.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or other cause; a rippling on the surface of water.
  • (Addison)
  • Agitation of mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation.
  • He keeps his mind in a continual fret .
  • * Pope
  • Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret .
  • Herpes; tetter.
  • (Dunglison)
  • (mining, in the plural) 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.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) < (etyl), from the verb (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (music) One of the pieces of metal/wood/plastic across the neck of a guitar or other musical instrument that marks note positions for fingering.
  • An ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines (often in relief).
  • * Evelyn
  • His lady's cabinet is adorned on the fret , ceiling, and chimney-piece with carving.
  • (heraldiccharge) A saltire interlaced with a mascle.
  • Derived terms
    * fretboard

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A strait; channel.
  • Etymology 4

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dialectal, North East England) A fog or mist at sea or coming inland from the sea.
  • Anagrams

    * ----