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At the beginning God gaue the dome him ſelfe / That Adam and Eue and all them that ſewed, / Shuld dye down right and dwell in pyne after, / If that they touched a tree and the frute eaten, / Adam afterwarde agaynſt hys defence / freet of that frute, and forſake as it were, / The loue of our lord and his lore bothe, [...]
At the beginning God gave the judgment himself / That Adam and Eve and all them that ensued, / Should die down right and dwell in pain after, / If that they touched a tree and the fruit ate, / Adam afterward against his warning / Ate of that fruit, and forsook, as it were, / The love of our Lord and his lore both, ]
1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, chapter XIV, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Roman Historie, containing Such Acts and Occurrents as Passed under Constantius, Iulianus, Iovianus, Valentinianus, and Valens, Emperours, book IX, London: Printed by Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 322:
Their hearts alreadie fretted and cankered at the very roote, for the last disgrace received.
1727–1728, Mather Byleset al., edited by Bruce Granger, Proteus Echo (1727–28): A Series of Essays and Poems that Appeared in the New-England Weekly Journal (History of Psychology Series; 420), Delmar, N.Y.: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, published 1986, →ISBN, page 75:
And could we let a Light into their Bosoms, we should see them generally fretted and cankered with this secret and corroding Venom.
1676, Richard Wiseman, “ Of an Herpes”, in Severall Chirurgical Treatises, London: Printed by E. Flesher and J[ohn] Macock, for R[ichard] Royston bookseller to His Most Sacred Majesty, and B[enjamin] Took at the Ship in St. Paul's Church-yard, →OCLC, page 80:
A Perſon of Honour, of a full Body abounding with ſharp Humours, was ſeized with an Herpes on his right Leg. [...] [I]t inflamed and ſwelled very much, many Wheals aroſe, and fretted one into another, with great Excoriation.
We sometimes perform an operation on the under lip [...] in consequence of / Cancer Labii [cancer of the lips], / Which disease generally arises from the use of a pipe, and the manner in which it happens is this:—the adhesive nature of the clay of which the pipe is made, causes it to adhere to the lip; at length the cuticle becomes torn off, and the continued irritation frets the sore into true cancerous disease.
1882 June, [Margaret Oliphant], “The Ladies Lindores.—Part III.”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CXXXI (American edition, volume XCIV), number DCCC, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Co., 41 Barclay Street, →OCLC, chapter VII, page 708, column 2:
Had Carry preferred mere wealth, weighed by such a master, to the congenial spirit of her former lover? It fretted the young man even to think of such a possibility. And the visitors had fretted him each in some special point.
Small lightes are ſoone blown out, huge fires abide, / And with the winde in greater furie fret: / The petty ſtreames that paie a dailie det / To their ſalt ſoveraigne with their freſh falshaſt, / Adde to his flowe, but alter not his taſt.
1611, John Speed, “Henrie the Sixth, King of England, and France, Lord of Ireland: The Three and Fiftieth Monarch of England, His Raigne, Actes, and Issve”, in The History of Great Britaine under the Conquests of ye Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans. , Imprinted at London: and are to be solde by Iohn Sudbury & Georg Humble, in Popes-head alley at ye signe of ye white Horse, →OCLC; republished London: Printed by Iohn Beale, for George Hvmble, and are to be sold in Popes-head Pallace, at the signe of the White Horse, 1614, →OCLC, book 9, paragraph 55, page 665, column 1:
Yorke hereupon conſults with his ſpeciall friends; [...] how Yorke might get the Crowne of England, and for that cauſe how to ruine or fret out the Duke of Sommerſet; who ſtanding, they were to looke for ſtrong oppoſition.
We are all hurrying down the one common stream to the great ocean of eternity: but are we performing our social duties, as citizens of the world, in sculking away into holes and corners, to fret out time and life, because God has judged fit to withdraw the favourite toy he lent us—not making us destitute—but graciously leaving in our keeping, ten thousand toys beside.
VVhen thrid of life is almoſt fret in twaine, To giue it ſtrength breeds thankes, and wonders too.
1677, Edward Browne, “A Journey from Vienna in Austria to Hamburg”, in An Account of Several Travels through a Great Part of Germany: In Four Journeys. , London: Printed for Benj[amin] Tooke, and are to be sold at the sign of the Ship in St. Paul's Church-yard, →OCLC, page 136:
The Mines are cold where the outward Air comes in; but where not, warm. The greateſt trouble they have is by duſt, which ſpoileth their Lungs and Stomachs, and frets their Skins.
You may see the surges wear and fret away the basement of the cliff against which they dash themselves, and the mass of broken rock falls into the depth and disappears, and then it is carried away by the tide as it retires.
1886 January 5, Samuel West, “Some Aneurysms of the Heart, Many of the Cases Exhibiting the Effects of Erosion”, in Transactions of the Pathological Society of London, volumes XXXVII (Comprising the Report of the Proceedings for the Session 1885–86), London: Smith, Elder & Co., 15, Waterloo Place, →OCLC, page 159:
In all the present cases it is the aortic valves that are the source of the mischief. Vegetations, massive, tough, and often calcareous have formed upon these valves, and as they were drive to and fro by the blood-stream have fretted the parts with which they came into contact, and aneurysm at these spots has been the frequent result.
For when he knew his Rival freed and gone, / He ſwells with Wrath; he makes outrageous Moan: / He frets, he fumes, he ſtares, he ſtamps the Ground; / The hollow Tow'r with Clamours rings around: [...]
1893, A Fraser-Macdonald, “The North Atlantic Viewed as a Region Traversed by Our Ocean Railways”, in Our Ocean Railways: Or, The Rise, Progress, and Development of Ocean Steam Navigation, London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, page 239:
This, as Maury remarks, "suggested the idea that there was no running water nor abrading forces at play upon the bed of the deep sea, and consequently, if ever an electric cord were lodged upon the telegraphic plateau, there it would lie in cold abstraction; without anything to fret, chafe or wear, save alone the tooth of time."
With this answer Elizabeth was forced to be content; but her own opinion continued the same, and she left him disappointed and sorry. It was not in her nature, however, to increase her vexations by dwelling on them. She was confident of having performed her duty, and to fret over unavoidable evils, or augment them by anxiety, was no part of her disposition.
Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. But, after all, I shouldn't have expected nothing different. 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.
2022 April 25, Kate Conger, “Twitter Employees Search for Answers as Musk Deal Takes Shape”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Recruits have also fretted that the shares included in their offer letters could quickly become devalued if Mr. Musk succeeded in taking Twitter private.
Beyond Tabor, the ſmall river Luſchnitze frets over craggy rocks, covered with thick woods, through which you continue your journey for three German miles, [...]
1815, Walter Scott, “The Lord of the Isles”, in The Poetical Works of Walter Scott: Complete in One Volume, Frankfurt: Printed by and for H. L. Brœnner, published 1826, →OCLC, canto I, page 130:
And mid-way through the channel met / Conflicting tides that foam and fret, / And high their mingled billows jet, / As spears, that, in the battle set, / Spring upward as they break.
1725, Chomel, “CHERRY-WINE”, in R[ichard] Bradley, editor, Dictionaire Oeconomique: Or, The Family Dictionary., volume I (A–H), London: D Midwinter,, →OCLC:
If their Cherries are full ripe and ſweet, they put only a Pound and an half of good Sugar to each gallon of Liquor, ſtir it well together, and cover it cloſe, and ſtir it no more till the next Day, then pour it carefully off the Lees as before; then let it ſtand again, and do the ſame the next Day into the Veſſel they keep it in: This may be repeated oftner, if they ſee the Lees are groſs, and like to make it fret when it is ſettled, then ſtop it up till ſeven or eight Months are paſs'd; at which time if perfectly fine, they bottle it; [...]
1856, “The Art of Brewing”, in The Brewer: A Familiar Treatise on the Art of Brewing, with Directions for the Selection of Malt and Hops, &c., &c.: Instructions for Making Cider and British Wines: Also, a Description of the New and Improved Brewing Saccharometer and Slide Rule, with Full Instructions for Their Use, London: William R[obert] Loftus, 6, Beaufoy Terrace, Edgeware Road, →OCLC, page 50:
It is important to allow beer to flatten, after it has ceased working. This is accomplished by leaving the casks open, when the small floating particles of yeast part with their fixed air, lose their buoyancy, and sink to the bottom. [...] The beer having thus deposited its remaining yeast will not be liable to fret.
1724, Paul Neile, “Sir Paul Neile’s Discourse of Cider”, in John Evelyn, Silva: Or, A Discourse of Forest-trees, and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty’s Dominions: In Two Books. , 5th edition, London: Printed for J. Walthoe , →OCLC, page 91:
Now though Cider uſed in my Method ſhould not ferment at all, till it come into the Bottle, and then but a little; yet the Cauſe of Fermentation being in a great Degree taken away, the reſt can do no conſiderable Harm to thoſe who drink it, [...] It is in your Power to give the Cider juſt as much fret as you pleaſe, and no more; and that by ſeveral ways: For either you may bottle it ſooner or later, as you pleaſe: Or you may bottle it from two Taps in your Veſſel, and that from the higher Tap will have leſs Fret, and the lower more: [...]
The place was a little below Gravesend, quite out of the fret and bustle of the narrower river, and there was not even a steamboat pier to disturb the quiet of this cluster of harmless houses, though they watched upon their beach the passage of great navies down the greatest thoroughfare of England.
1877, “BEER”, in Encyclopædia of Chemistry Theoretical, Practical, and Analytical as Applied to the Arts and Manufactures, volumes I (Acetic Acid – Gas), Philadelphia, Pa.: J. B. Lippincott & Co., →OCLC, page 315, column 2:
When the pitching heat is high, and the yeast is of a good quality and in sufficient abundance, the fermentation proceeds so rapidly and with such energy that it becomes ungovernable; some means must therefore be employed to check the heat. For this purpose coils of pipe, through which water circulates, are fitted up in the tun. Unless this is done the whole of the glutinous constituents of the gyle is not removed in the yeast, and the liquor does not cleanse satisfactorily, in consequence of an after fermentation which sets in, which is technically known as the "fret."
Yet then did Gildon dravv his venal quill; / I vviſh'd the man a dinner, and ſate ſtill: / Yet then did Dennis rave in furious fret; / I never anſvver'd, I vvas not in debt: / If vvant provok'd, or madneſs made them print, / I vvag'd no vvar with Bedlam or the Mint.
It was our good fortune last autumn to escape from the feverish excitement and moral tension of this vast metropolis, from the hurry and fret of business, the glut of pleasure, the satiety of delight, the weariness of politics, and the exhausting duties of our critical function, into that favoured corner of our fortunate island, the West of England; [...]
1897, B[everly] Carradine, The Sanctified Life, Cincinnati, Oh.: Office of the Revivalist, →OCLC, page 192:
And the preacher who delivered the discourse went home and fretted; his wife, children and servants being witnesses. Sanctification takes the spirit of fret out of the heart.
After their introduction to Orlando, Celia wonders why Rosalind should be so morose ([William Shakespeare's As You Like It,] I.iii.10–19): [...] In her effort to cheer Rosalind, Celia compares these frets to burs, meaning the rough and prickly flowerheads: "They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery."
Vesiculæ, or vesicles, are small, circumscribed elevations of the scarf-skin, containing serum, at first (both in their coats and contents) transparent, afterwards white and opaque, and terminating in the formation of scurf or thin scales. Under this head are ranged varicella (chicken-pox), sudamina, eczema (red fret), herpes (fret), scabies (itch).
1867 April 25, , “Farriery”, in Mackenzie’s Ten Thousand Receipts, in All the Useful and Domestic Arts; Constituting a Complete and Practical Library, , new, carefully revised and re-written edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: T. Ellwood Zell & Company, Nos. 17 & 19 South Sixth Street, pages 112–113:
To cure Gripes in Horses. This disorder goes by different names in different districts of the country; as fret, from the uneasiness attending it; bots, from its being thought to arise from these animals or worms, etc. [...] In speaking of the medicine for gripes, or the flatulent colic sometimes termed fret, Mr. White mentions, domestic remedies may be employed when proper medicines cannot be procured in time.
Then we obſerve the Frets in the Banks of Rivers that are newly made by any great Land-Flood, which uſually are then very clean, to ſee, if happily we can diſcover any metalline Stones in the Sides and Bottoms thereof, together with the Caſt of the Country (i.e. any earth of a different colour from the reſt of the Bank), which is a great help to direct us, which ſide or hill to ſearch into.
Went to visit our good neighbor, Mr. Bohun, whose whole house is a cabinet of all elegancies, especially Indian; [...] [A]bove all, his lady's cabinet is adorned on the fret, ceiling, and chimney-piece with Mr. Gibbons's best carving.
Remove spills from grill frets with a cloth and brush the frets with a stiff brush when dry and cold.
2007, Nancy Edwards, A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone Sculpture in Wales, volume 2 (South-west Wales), Cardiff, Wales: University of Wales Press, →ISBN, page 136:
Square unit of nondescript frets which interlace in the centre to form a cruciform shape.
DIAPERED, or Diapre, in heraldry, the dividing of a field in planes, like fret-work, and filling the ſame with variety of figures. This chiefly obtains on bordures, which are diapered or fretted over, and the frets charged with things proper for bordures.
A 19th-century fretted (verb sense 1) wooden skylightgrid, from the collection of the Museum für Volkskultur (Museum for Folk Culture) in Württemberg, Germany
fret (third-person singular simple presentfrets, present participlefretting, simple past and past participlefretted)
Decius. Here lyes the Eaſt: doth not the Day breake heere? [...] Cin[na]. O pardon, Sir, it doth; and yon grey Lines, / That fret the Clouds, are Meſſengers of Day.
1882 July 29, J. Henry Shorthouse, “The Marquis Jeanne Hyacinth De St. Palaye ”, in Littel’s Living Age, volume XXXIX (Fifth Series; volume CLIV overall), number 1988, Boston, Mass.: Littel & Co., →OCLC, section V, page 228, column 1:
The sun shone brilliantly through the trembling leaves, birds of many colors flitted from spray to spray, butterflies and bright insects crossed the fretted work of light and shade.
The long-necked Egyptian Nefer was certainly depicted in the 4th dynasty; and wall-painting of the time of Moses, preserved in the British Museum, shows that it then had frets.
1916, “History of the Orchestra”, in Daniel Gregory Mason, editor-in-chief, Benjamin Lambord, editors, The Orchestra and Orchestral Music (The Art of Music: A Comprehensive Library of Information for Music Lovers and Musicians; 8), New York, N.Y.: The National Society of Music, →OCLC, section III, page 69:
The frets of the lute marked whole tones, while those of the guitar were a semi-tone apart.
2015, Drew Turrill, “Step by Step Exercises”, in Don’t Fret – Learn Lead Guitar the Easy Way, : BookBaby, →ISBN:
Note that right next to the headstock, the boxes may utilize some open notes in place of fretting with the pointer finger because the nut will effectively fret the notes for you[…].
1589, Humfrey Gilbert [i.e., Humphrey Gilbert], “A Discourse Written by Sir Humfrey Gilbert Knight, to Prooue a Passage by the Northwest to Cathaia, and the East Indies”, in Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation,, London: George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker,, →OCLC, chapter 1 (To Prooue by Authoritie a Passage to be on the North Side of America, to Go to Cathaia, and the East India), page 597:
I came in fine to the fourth part of the world, commonly called America, which by all deſcriptions I found to be an Iſland enuironed around about with the Sea, hauing on the Southſide of it, the frete, or ſtraight of Magellan, [...]
1721, Joseph Addison, “Pesaro, Fano, Senigallia, Ancona, Loretto, &c. to Rome”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq, volumes II (Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703), London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, at Shakespear's-Head, over-against Katherine-street in the Strand, →OCLC, page 56:
The river Velino, after having found its way from among the rocks where it falls, runs into the Nera. The channel of this laſt river is white with rocks, and the ſurface of it, for a long ſpace, covered with froth and bubbles; for it runs all along upon the fret, and is ſtill breaking againſt the ſtones that oppoſe its paſſage: [...]
Attested since the mid-1800s, of unknown origin.[7] Perhaps related to fret(“to form a pattern upon”),[8]fret(“to consume”) (as the fog does the land), or fret(“to agitate the surface of water”) (as the wind which blows the fog inland does); compare the semantics of haar(“cold wind; misty wind; fog, mist”). Dialectally, the spelling freet and pronunciation /fɹit/ are also found, as they also are for fret(“consume; agitate”).[9]
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
