Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to fray
Participle: frayed
Gerund: fraying
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | fray |
| you | fray |
| he;she;it | frays |
| we | fray |
| you | fray |
| they | fray |
Perfect
| I | have frayed |
| you | have frayed |
| he;she;it | has frayed |
| we | have frayed |
| you | have frayed |
| they | have frayed |
Past
| I | frayed |
| you | frayed |
| he;she;it | frayed |
| we | frayed |
| you | frayed |
| they | frayed |
Pluperfect
| I | had frayed |
| you | had frayed |
| he;she;it | had frayed |
| we | had frayed |
| you | had frayed |
| they | had frayed |
Future
| I | will fray |
| you | will fray |
| he;she;it | will fray |
| we | will fray |
| you | will fray |
| they | will fray |
Future Perfect
| I | will have frayed |
| you | will have frayed |
| he;she;it | will have frayed |
| we | will have frayed |
| you | will have frayed |
| they | will have frayed |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | fray |
| you | fray |
| he;she;it | fray |
| we | fray |
| you | fray |
| they | fray |
Perfect
| I | have frayed |
| you | have frayed |
| he;she;it | have frayed |
| we | have frayed |
| you | have frayed |
| they | have frayed |
Imperfect
| I | frayed |
| you | frayed |
| he;she;it | frayed |
| we | frayed |
| you | frayed |
| they | frayed |
Pluperfect
| I | had frayed |
| you | had frayed |
| he;she;it | had frayed |
| we | had frayed |
| you | had frayed |
| they | had frayed |
Conditional
Present
| I | would fray |
| you | would fray |
| he;she;it | would fray |
| we | would fray |
| you | would fray |
| they | would fray |
Perfect
| I | would have frayed |
| you | would have frayed |
| he;she;it | would have frayed |
| we | would have frayed |
| you | would have frayed |
| they | would have frayed |
Imperative
| you | fray |
| we | Let's fray |
| you | fray |
Verbs conjugated like 'fray'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'fray'
bray,
fay,
flay,
foray,
frab,
frac,
frag,
frak,
frap,
fry,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to fill with fear
- affright, alarm, harrow, horrify, make someone's blood run cold, scare, scare straight, scare the bejeebers out of, scare the pants off of, terrify, terrorize, frighten
- ravel
- fret, tatter, wear, shred, unravel
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. The verb is derived from Late Middle English fraien (“to beat so as to cause bruising, to bruise; to crush; to rub; to wear, wear off”), borrowed from Old French fraier, freier, freiier (modern French frayer (“to clear, open up (a path, etc.); (figuratively) to find one’s way through (something); (obsolete) to rub”)), from Latin fricāre, the present active infinitive of fricō (“to chafe; to rub”), an intensive form of friō (“to break into pieces, crumble; to rub”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (“to cut”). Sense 1.2 (“to force or make (a path, way, etc.) through”) is derived from modern French frayer: see above.
2. The noun is derived from the verb. See: French '
frayer', French '
frayer'.
Verbs referencing "fray"
Galician
fregar, Spanish
fregar.
Sample Sentences
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S. Paul alſo defineth the law to be the knowlege of ſyn, yͭ is, which accuſeth, frayeth the cõſcience, & maketh ſynnes knowen. [1538, Erasmus Sarcerius, “Of the Lawe of God”, in Richard Taverner, transl., Cõmon Places of Scripture Ordrely and after a Cõpendious Forme of Teachyng, Set Forth with No Litle Labour, […], London: […] John Byddell, […], →OCLC, folio lxv, recto:]
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[W]ith the help of her consorts, [she] carried off the following goods of her said lady; viz. […] four striped muslin night-rails very little frayed; […] [1710 November 12 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Richard Steele], “Wednesday, November 2, 1710”, in The Tatler, number 245; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume III, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, →OCLC, page 309:]
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Everything told of long use and quiet slow decay; the very bell-rope in the porch was frayed into a fringe, and hoary with old age. [1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Seventeenth”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 182:]
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It was a little past mid-day when the four-horse stage-coach by which I was a passenger, got into the ravel of traffic frayed out about the Cross-Keys, Wood-street, Cheapside, London. [1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter I, in Great Expectations […], volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 1:]
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[T]his ſame Ladie Dryopee, the fayreſt Ladye tho / In all the land of Oechalye. Whom beeing then no mayd / (For why the God of Delos and of Delphos had her frayd) / Andræmon taketh too hys wyfe, and thinkes him well apayd. [1567, Ovid, “The Ninth Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 115, verso:]
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Another distance, I do not know how far, of dry dark heather continually fraying against my knees, is traversed, when in front appears a coombe, overgrown with heather from summit to foot, and I stop suddenly. [1884, Richard Jefferies, “Wild Exmoor”, in Red Deer, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 29:]
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His [a hart's] head when it commeth firſt out, hath a ruſſet pyll vpon it, the which is called Veluet,[…]. When his head is growne out to the full bigneſſe, then he rubbeth of that pyll, and that is called fraying of his head. [1575, Jacques du Fouilloux, “Of the Termes of Venery”, in George Gascoigne, transl., The Noble Art of Venerie or Hunting. […], London: […] Thomas Purfoot, published 1611, →OCLC, page 244:]
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And foresters have busy been, / To track the buck in thicket green; / […] / We can shew the marks he made, / When ’gainst the oak his antlers fray’d; […] [1820, Walter Scott, “[Miscellaneous Poems.] Hunting Song”, in The Poetical Works of Walter Scott, Esq. […], volume XII, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Company] for Arch[ibald] Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; and John Murray, →OCLC, page 122:]
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Towards the end of July the harbourer begins to look round after the stags and notice their whereabouts. They are then fraying, rubbing the velvet off their new horns against the trees. He observes where the signs of fraying first appear, indicating that a full-grown stag is in the neighbourhood, as the best stags usually fray earliest. [1884, Richard Jefferies, “Tracking Deer by Slot”, in Red Deer, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 112:]
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The hectic day ended in her nerves frayed.