Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FRET, v.i.

1. To be worn away; to be corroded. Any substance will in time fret away by friction.
2. To eat or wear in; to make way by attrition or corrosion. Many wheals arose, and fretted one into another with great excoriation. Wiseman.
3. To be agitated; to be in violent commotion; as, the rancor that frets in the malignant breast.
4. To be vexed; to be chafed or irritated; to be angry; to utter peevish expressions. He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground. Dryden.