fret

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
fret1

▶verb (frets, fretting, fretted)

• 1 be constantly or visibly anxious.

• 2 gradually wear away by rubbing or gnawing.

• 3 flow or move in small waves.

▶noun chiefly Brit. a state of anxiety.

– origin OE fretan ‘devour, consume’, of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
fret2

▶noun

• 1 Art & Architecture a repeating ornamental design of vertical and horizontal lines.

• 2 Heraldry a device of narrow diagonal bands interlaced through a diamond.

▶verb (frets, fretting, fretted) (usu. as adj. fretted) decorate with fretwork.

– origin ME: from OFr. frete ‘trelliswork’ and freter (v.), of unknown origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
fret3

▶noun each of a sequence of ridges on the fingerboard of some stringed instruments such as the guitar, used for fixing the positions of the fingers to produce the desired notes. ▶verb (frets, fretting, fretted) (often as adj. fretted)

• 1 provide with frets.

• 2 play (a note) while pressing against a fret.

– derivatives
fretless adjective.

– origin C16: of unknown origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
fret4 (also sea fret)

▶noun N. English a sea mist or fog.

– origin C19: of unknown origin.