Fret
Source : Wright, Joseph English Dialect Dictionary web : https://eddonline4-proj.uibk.ac.at/edd/main.html
FRET, v. and sb.1 Var. dial. uses in Sc. and Eng. Also in forms freeat Yks.; freet Cum.1; freit, friet Sc. [fret, friət, frīt] I. Gram. forms. 1. Preterite: (1) Fra'te. m.Yks.1; (2) Fretted. sw.Lin.1 2. pp. (1) Fretted, (2) Fretten, (3) Frettened, (4) Freitten, (5) Fritten. (1) Wm. (B.K.), War.3, Glo.1 (2) Sc. (Jam. Suppl.), N.Cy.1, Nhb.1, n.Yks.2, Chs.1 Chs.2 Chs.3, Suf.1, w.Som.1 (3) e.An.1 (4) Sc. (Jam. Suppl.) (5) Nhb.1 II. Dial. meanings. 1. v. To eat, devour; to graze as animals. Sc. Moor Suf. Wds. (1823). w.Cy. (Hall.) Som. W. & J. Gl. (1873); (W.F.R.) 2. To eat into, wear away, tear; to rust, act as a corrosive; to grind. Also used fig. Lth. Even man himsel' should feel restored, And something of the general heat In his thaw'd breast begin to friet, Lumsden Sheep-head (1892) 149; (G.W.) Cum.1 Glo. You may know it [sandstone] will fret a bit, else they could not sharpen their tools (S.S.B.); Glo.1 My apern is fretted all into holes. The bricks has fretted all the skin off my hands. w.Som.1 Kaa·pikul stoa·un, ee frats wuul [Capital stone, it frets well]. Hence Fretted or Fretten, ppl. adj. honeycombed, worn or eaten away into holes; marked, pitted, seamed; spotted, freckled; gen. in phr. pock-fretten, pock-marked. Sc. Pock-freitten (Jam. Suppl.). N.Cy.1 Pock fretten. Nhb.1 Wm. T'banks o' fretted through an' through wi rabbits (B.K.). n.Yks.2, Chs.1 Chs.2 Chs.3, e.An.1, Suf.1, w.Som.1 3. To thaw. Nhp. The small birds think their wants are o'er To see the snow-hills fret again, Clare Shep. Calendar (1827) 24; Nhp.1 I think the frost is going, it begins to fret. It frets a bit. 4. To ferment. s.Wor. As of cider (H.K.). Hrf.1 w.Som.1 Neef dhaat dhae·ur mai·t du buyd·n frat muuch lau·ng-gur t-l bee u-spwuuy·ul [If that meat (pig's wash) remains fermenting much longer it will be spoiled]. Cor.1 5. To distress, irritate. Yks. Ah's a rough chap when ah's freeated, an' ah's yamost oot 'at yed aat t'news ah's getten, Macquoid Doris Barugh (1877) xv. War.3 Don't swing your whip, you are fretting the horse [making him nervous]. How you've fretted this horse [of a horse brought home hot from over-driving]. 6. To cry, weep. n.Lin.1 sw.Lin.1 She seemed a woman as couldn't fret ─ not tears. She did not fret while we fretted, i.e. she did not cry till we did. Hence Fretful, adj. overwhelmed with grief. e.An.1 7. sb. Care, worry, esp. in phr. to have the fret, to be excited, fume, fret. w.Yks. Being hungry is a matter that leaves no fret on a lad's mind, Snowden Web of Weave (1896) 6. Hmp. To have the fret (H.E.). 8. Quarrel, revolt, contention. Ayr. Though thir honest men be concerned in a fret against the King's Government, they're no just iniquitous malefactors, Galt Gilhaize (1823) xxiii. 9. The colic in animals. Glo.1, Hmp. (H.E.) [Peas and vetches if given before Candlemas ‘often give the horses the fret,’ Lisle Husbandry (1757) 413.] Hence to have the fret on, phr. of animals: to look out of sorts, out of condition. s.Chs.1 A fowl losing her feathers would be said to have a fret on her.
- A gaseous fermentation of cider or beer. Glo.1
FRET, sb.2 Nhb.1 e.Dur.1 ne.Yks.1 Also in form freet Nhb.1 [fret, frīt] A sea-fog, shower of misty rain coming
from the sea. Also called Sea-fret.
FRET, sb.3 and adj. Sc. Nrf. Also in form freet. [fret, frīt.] 1. sb. The product of milk; butter, cheese, &c. Cai.1 2. Comp. Fret-taker, an old woman supposed to have the power of deteriorating the milk of her neighbour and of increasing that of her own accordingly. Cai.1 Between 1840 and 1850 I often have heard old people speak of the processes of the ‘Fret-takers,’ and of how they might be detected. 3. adj. Used of milk from which the cream has been
taken. Nrf. (R.H.H.)
FRET, sb.4 w.Yks.1 s.Chs.1 Also in form freat w.Yks.1 [fret, friət.] An iron hoop about the navel of a cart-wheel. [Fr. frete, a verril, the iron band, or hoop that keeps a wooden tool from rising (COTGR.); OFr. frete, see Hatzfeld
(s.v. Frette).]
FRET, sb.5 Yks. Not. [fret.] In phr. well's a fret or the fret. w.Yks. Ai ən wels tfret, im t dīz, i luv wiənt bi e'nd fə det (J.W.). Not. When after a short pause in conversation anyone utters the interjection, ‘Well!’ it is a common practice to say: ‘Well's a fret, He that dies for love will not be hang'd for debt,’ N. & Q. (1853) 1st S. viii. 197. [Frets, the points at which a string is to be stopped, in such an instrument as the lute or guitar (Nares); I did but tell her she mistook her frets, And bow'd her hand to
teach her fingering, SHAKS. T. Shrew, II. i. 150.]
‡FRET, v. Dial. unknown. Of animals: to render subject to the colic. Cf. fret, sb.1 9. The grassland in this district is peculiarly liable to scour (‘fret’) the young cattle, Jrn. R. Agric. Soc. (1856) XVII. pt. ii. 482 (N.E.D.).
Source : Admiral W H Smyth - The Sailor's Wordbook