fray
fray (frā) , noun
[Abbreviated from affray.]
An angry quarrel; an affray; contest; combat; broil.
Who began this bloody fray?
Fray (frād) , transitive verb
[See 1st Fray, and compare Affray.]
To frighten; to terrify; to alarm. — I. Taylor
What frays ye, that were wont to comfort me affrayed?
Fray , transitive verb
[Compare Old French fraier. See Defray, transitive verb]
To bear the expense of; to defray. [Obsolete]
The charge of my most curious and costly ingredients frayed, I shall acknowledge myself amply satisfied.
Fray , transitive verb
[Old French freier, fraier, froier, to rub. Latin fricare; compare friare to crumble, English friable; perh. akin to Greek chri`ein to anoint, chri^sma an anointing, Sanskrit ghrsh to rub, scratch. Compare Friction.]
To rub; to wear off, or wear into shreds, by rubbing; to fret, as cloth; as, a deer is said to fray her head.
Fray , intransitive verb
1.
To rub.
We can show the marks he made
When 'gainst the oak his antlers frayed.
2.
To wear out or into shreads, or to suffer injury by rubbing, as when the threads of the warp or of the woof wear off so that the cross threads are loose; to ravel; as, the cloth frays badly.
A suit of frayed magnificience.
Fray , noun
A fret or chafe, as in cloth; a place injured by rubbing.