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1. Worry unnecessarily or excessively
   "don't fret too much over the grandchildren--they are quite big now";
   - fuss, niggle
    
2. Be agitated or irritated
   "don't fret over these small details";
   - stew [informal]
    
3. Provide (a musical instrument) with frets
   "fret a guitar"
    
4. Become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
   - chafe, gall
    
5. Cause annoyance in
    
6. Gnaw into; make resentful or angry
   "The injustice fretted her";
   - eat into, rankle, grate
    
7. (handicraft) carve a pattern into
    
8. Decorate with an interlaced design
    
9. Be too tight; rub or press
   "This neckband is fretting the cat";
   - choke, gag
    
10. Cause friction
    "my sweater frets";
    - rub, fray, chafe, scratch
     
11. Remove soil or rock
    - erode, eat away
     
12. Wear away or erode
    - eat away

1. Agitation resulting from active worry
   - stew [informal], sweat [informal], lather, swither [UK, dialect]
    
2. A spot that has been worn away by abrasion or erosion
   - worn spot
    
3. An ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines (often in relief)
   "there was a simple fret at the top of the walls";
   - Greek fret, Greek key, key pattern
    
4. A small bar of metal across the fingerboard of a musical instrument; when the string is stopped by a finger at the metal bar it will produce a note of the desired pitch
    
5. [UK] A fog or mist coming from the sea
   - sea fret [UK]

Derived forms: frets, fretting, fretted

Type of: adjoin, adorn, agitation, annoy, architectural ornament, bar, beautify, bother, carve, chafe, compact, compress, constrict, contact, contract, corrode, damage, dapple, decorate, devil, embellish, fleck, furnish, get at [informal], get to, grace, gravel [US], irritate, maculation, meet, nark [Brit, slang], nettle, offer, ornament, patch, press, provide, rag, render, rile, roil [N. Amer], rust, speckle, spot, squeeze, supply, sweat [N. Amer, informal], tick off [informal], touch, vex, worry

Encyclopedia: Fret