fret
verb/fret/
/fret/
[intransitive, transitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they fret | /fret/ /fret/ |
| he / she / it frets | /frets/ /frets/ |
| past simple fretted | /ˈfretɪd/ /ˈfretɪd/ |
| past participle fretted | /ˈfretɪd/ /ˈfretɪd/ |
| -ing form fretting | /ˈfretɪŋ/ /ˈfretɪŋ/ |
- to be worried or unhappy and not able to relax
- Her baby starts to fret as soon as she goes out of the room.
- Fretting, he looked again at his watch.
- fret about something Fretting about it won't help.
- fret over something He was fretting over his speech.
- fret that… She fretted that nobody would show up.
Word Originverb Old English fretan ‘devour, consume’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vreten and German fressen, and ultimately to eat.Definitions on the go
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fret