Fret, fret, v.a

to wear away by friction; to wear away, so as to impair; to eat into; to irritate; to chafe; to gall; to agitate; to make rough; to cause to ripple; to form in to or ornament with raised work; to variegate; to provide with frets: v.n. to be worn away; to eat or wear into; to be agitated; to be chafed or irritated; to utter peevish expre ions: s. agitation of the surface of a fluid; a rippling on the surface; irritation; vexation; the worn side of a river bank; a chafing of the skin [Med.]; herpes [Med.]; an ornament consisting of small fillets intersecting each other at right angles [Arch.]: a short wire fixed on the finger-board of guitars, ., under and at right angles to the strings [Mus.); bars cro ed and interlaced [Her.] (L. frico, to rub, and A.S. cretan, to gnaw.)