Meaning of Fray | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A surname.
2. A consequence of rubbing, unravelling, or wearing away; a fraying; also, a place where fraying has occurred.
   archaic, intransitive, obsolete
3. A noisy commotion, especially resulting from fighting; a brawl, a fight; also, a loud quarrel.
   archaic, countable, obsolete
4. A heated argument; a war of words.
   archaic, countable, figuratively, obsolete
5. Conflict, disagreement.
   archaic, obsolete, uncountable
6. An assault or attack.
   archaic, countable, obsolete
7. A loud noise; a cacophony, a din.
   archaic, countable, obsolete
8. Fright, terror; (countable) an instance of this.
   archaic, obsolete, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“The laces frayed at the cut⟳ end⟳.”

“"And pray, sir, what do [you] think⟳ of Miss⟳ Morland's gown?" / "It is very pretty, madam," said he, gravely examining it; "but I do not think⟳ it will wash⟳ well; I am afraid it will fray."”

“[T]here's no woman made without a flaw; / Your purest lawns have⟳ frays, and cambrics bracks.”

“'Tis like⟳ a Lawnie-Firmament as yet / Quite diſpoſſeſt of either fray, or fret.”

“Though they did not know⟳ the reason⟳ for the dispute, they did not hesitate to leap⟳ into the fray.”

“Pry[nce]: VVhere be the vile beginners of this fray? / Ben[volio]: Ah Noble Prince I can diſcouer all / The moſt vnlucky mannage of this bravvle. / […] Pry: Speake Benuolio vvho began this fray? / Ben: Tibalt heere ſlaine vvhom Romeos hand did ſlay.”

“I for my part have⟳ been in the fray before novv, and though (through the goodneſs of him that is beſt) I am as you ſee alive: yet I cannot boaſt of my manhood. Glad ſhall I be, if I meet⟳ vvith no more ſuch brunts, though I fear vve are not got beyond all danger.”

“Wigan, unbeaten in five games at the DW Stadium, looked well in control⟳ but the catalyst for Arsenal's improvement finally came when [Abou] Diaby left the field with a calf injury and Jack Wilshere came into the fray, bringing some much needed determination and urgency to lacklustre Arsenal.”

“Carlos Fuller, Belize’s ambassador to the UN, said: “I can understand⟳ why the king was asked not to attend⟳ – keeping him out of the fray. However, as the principal UK policymaker and the Cop26 president, the PM should have⟳ led the summit.”

“It is the chafing of the lion, and the stirring of the viper, that aggravates the danger; the first blow⟳ makes the wrong, but the second makes the fray; and they that will endure no kind of abuse in state or church, are many times more dangerous than that abuse which they oppose⟳.”

“[W]hen the conteſt is by the proud Man againſt the humble Man, the ſtrife is quickly at an end⟳: it is a true Proverb, It is the ſecond blovv makes the fray: the humble Man gives vvay to the vvrath and inſolence of the proud Man, and thereby ends the quarrel; for Yielding pacifieth vvrath, ſaith the VViſe Man [Ecclesiastes 10:4], […]”

“Where window is open⟳, cat maketh a fray, / yet wilde cat with two legs is worse by my fay.”

“Thus that fray vvas over, and vve came aſhore again: recovered of the fright vve had been in.”

CEFR level