From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfretfret1 /fret/ verb (fretted, fretting) [intransitive] WORRIEDto worry about something, especially when there is no need Don’t fret – everything will be all right.fret about/over She’s always fretting about the children.fret that men of fifty, fretting that they’re no longer young→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
fret• No wonder the Bears were fretting.• It can't help that he is fretting about possessions when he should be worrying about the state of his marriage.• For those of us who fret about ways in which modern technology distances us from understanding this programme was a revelation.• I'd sit in meetings, fretting about what was happening at home.• And don't fret about your brother, neither.• She worries and frets all the time -- I think it's because she's got no one to talk to about her problems.• Why is the White House fretting and sending emissaries to gauge what he really wants?• They fretted at Reno's tendency to give negotiations one last chance when the going got rough.• There was so much to achieve and I fretted endlessly about the work that was needed to co-ordinate it all.• There's no point in fretting over it now.• Opponents fret that the system might not provide enough help in times of rural economic crisis.• The horse cropped at a leisurely pace through the flat Fenland countryside, Illingworth fretting while my friend gazed about calmly.fret about/over• Jolie spent her days fretting about boys and clothes.• She also had enough at Usher to occupy her mind without fretting about future possibilities.• Mandeville kept to himself, fretting about Southgate and when the additional soldiers would arrive.• As Father Maier fretted over the course of the meeting, Ray McGovern reveled in his momentary success.• I did not fret about the delay, because by now I had absolute confidence in the men I was working with.• But we need not fret over the details.• They are also fretting about the dull prospects for the imaging business that will be left behind.• The Cowboys started fretting about the Packers.• Few in the finance ministry will fret about this.fretfret2 noun [countable]APM one of the raised lines on the fretboard of a guitar etcExamples from the Corpus
fret• But it had 22 frets, big frets, and really loud humbuckers and that was why I liked it.• The set-in neck is maple, with an ebony fingerboard that's loaded with twenty-four biggish frets.• There are no frets or strings on the guitar neck, and thus nothing to do with your left hand.• Long-term debts of around £150,000 continue to finger the back of the club's neck as unpleasantly as a north-eastern sea fret.• The frets are quite thin as well and it doesn't seem to go out of tune that much.Origin fret1 Old English fretan “to eat” fret2 (1500-1600) Probably from Old French frete “metal band” 