fray
fray
/freɪ/
The cuffs of his shirt were fraying.
This material frays easily.
fray something It was fashionable to fray the bottoms of your jeans.
2 intransitive, transitive fray (something) if somebody’s nerves or temper frays or something frays them, the person starts to get annoyed As the debate went on, tempers began to fray.
Idioms
e.g.
fray
/freɪ/
a fight, a competition or an argument, especially one that is exciting or seen as a test of your ability
They were ready for the fray.
to enter/join the fray
At 71, he has now retired from the political fray.
e.g.
Word Origin
verb late Middle English: from Old French freiier, from Latin fricare ‘to rub’.
noun late Middle English: from archaic fray ‘to quarrel’, from affray ‘startle’, from Anglo-Norman French afrayer ‘disturb, startle’, based on an element of Germanic origin related to Old English frithu ‘peace, safety’.