MEANING
1. To wear at the edge of fabric, rope, or a similar material so that fibers loosen or separate.
2. To become strained or worn by repeated pressure, or to cause such strain.
3. A fight, dispute, or competitive struggle involving several participants.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- fray at the edges
- fray a rope
- a frayed cuff
On the page
The hem had begun to fray where it brushed the stone steps.
He worried the cord between his fingers until it frayed.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- fray
- Past tense
- frayed
- Past participle
- frayed
- Present participle
- fraying
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- fray
- Present continuous
- am/is/are fraying
- Present perfect
- have/has frayed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been fraying
- Past
- frayed
- Past continuous
- was/were fraying
- Past perfect
- had frayed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been fraying
- Future
- will fray
- Future continuous
- will be fraying
- Future perfect
- will have frayed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been fraying
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: fray; frays; frayed; frayed; fraying Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: frays.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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