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Fray in Scrabble and Meaning

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What does fray mean? Is fray a Scrabble word?

How many points in Scrabble is fray worth? fray how many points in Words With Friends? What does fray mean? Get all these answers on this page.

Scrabble® and Words with Friends® points for fray

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Is fray a Scrabble word?

Yes. The word fray is a Scrabble US word. The word fray is worth 10 points in Scrabble:

F4R1A1Y4

Is fray a Scrabble UK word?

Yes. The word fray is a Scrabble UK word and has 10 points:

F4R1A1Y4

Is fray a Words With Friends word?

Yes. The word fray is a Words With Friends word. The word fray is worth 9 points in Words With Friends (WWF):

F4R1A1Y3

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Valid words made from Fray

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4-letter words (1 found)

FRAY,

3-letter words (9 found)

ARF,ARY,FAR,FAY,FRA,FRY,RAY,RYA,YAR,

2-letter words (5 found)

AR,AY,FA,FY,YA,

You can make 15 words from fray according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

All 4 letters words made out of fray

fray rfay fary afry rafy arfy frya rfya fyra yfra ryfa yrfa fayr afyr fyar yfar ayfr yafr rayf aryf ryaf yraf ayrf yarf

Note: these 'words' (valid or invalid) are all the permutations of the word fray. These words are obtained by scrambling the letters in fray.

Definitions and meaning of fray

fray

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: frā, IPA(key): /fɹeɪ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪ

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.

The noun is derived from the verb.

Verb

fray (third-person singular simple present frays, present participle fraying, simple past and past participle frayed)

  1. (transitive)
    1. (also figuratively) To rub or wear away (something); to cause (something made of strands twisted or woven together, such as cloth or rope) to unravel through friction; also, to irritate (something) through chafing or rubbing; to chafe.
      1. (specifically) Of a deer: to rub (its antlers or head) against a tree, etc., to remove the velvet from antlers or to mark territory; also, to rub its antlers against (a tree, etc.) for that purpose.
    2. To force or make (a path, way, etc.) through.
    3. (obsolete) To bruise (someone or something); also, to take the virginity of (someone, usually a female person); to deflower.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. To become unravelled or worn; to unravel.
    2. To rub.
      1. (specifically) Of a deer: to rub its antlers against a tree, etc., to remove the velvet or to mark territory.
    3. (figuratively) Of a person's mental strength, nerves, temper, etc.: to become exhausted or worn out.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Noun

fray (plural frays)

  1. (archaic or obsolete) A consequence of rubbing, unravelling, or wearing away; a fraying; also, a place where fraying has occurred.

Etymology 2

From Late Middle English fraien (“to attack, invade; to make an attack; to brawl, fight; to make a loud noise (?); to frighten, terrify; to be frightened of (something), fear”), an aphetic variant of affraien (“to attack, invade; to harass; to brawl, fight; to riot; to reproach; to frighten, terrify; to be frightened of (something), fear; to alarm, disturb; to arouse, awaken, excite”) (whence affray), from Anglo-Norman affraier, afrayer (“to frighten, terrify; to disquiet; to disturb”) [and other forms], a variant of effreier, esfreier [and other forms], and Old French effreer, esfreer (“to frighten, scare; to be afraid”) [and other forms] (modern French effrayer), from Vulgar Latin *exfridāre, from Latin ex- (prefix indicating privation) + Frankish *friþu (“peace”) (from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace, tranquility; refuge, sanctuary”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to love; to please”)).

Verb

fray (third-person singular simple present frays, present participle fraying, simple past and past participle frayed) (archaic or obsolete)

  1. (transitive)
    1. (except poetic) To alarm or frighten (someone or something).
      Synonyms: (archaic) affray, (obsolete) effray
    2. Often followed by away, off, or out: to frighten or scare (someone or something) away.
      Synonym: (archaic) affray
    3. (by extension)
      1. To assail or attack (someone or something); to drive (someone or something) away by attacking.
      2. To chase (someone or something) away; to disperse.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. To be afraid or frightened; to fear.
    2. To make an assault or attack; also, to create a disturbance; to brawl, to fight.
Conjugation
Derived terms
  • fraying (adjective, noun)
Translations

Etymology 3

From Late Middle English frai (“an assault, attack; a brawl, fight; disturbance, uproar; fine for assault or breach of the peace”), an aphetic variant of affrai, effrai (“an assault, attack; a brawl, fight; disturbance, uproar; public disturbance, riot; dismay; fear; something frightening”), then:

  • from affraien (verb); and
  • from Anglo-Norman affrai, affrei [and other forms], a variant of effray, effrei, esfrei, esfroi, Middle French effray, esfroi, and Old French effrei, esfrei, esfroi (“breach of the peace, disturbance; noise; dread, terror”) (modern French effroi (“(literary) dread, terror”)), from Old French effreer, esfreer (verb).

See further at etymology 2.

Noun

fray (countable and uncountable, plural frays)

  1. (countable) A noisy commotion, especially resulting from fighting; a brawl, a fight; also, a loud quarrel.
  2. (countable, figuratively) A heated argument; a war of words.
  3. (uncountable) Conflict, disagreement.
  4. (obsolete)
    1. (countable) An assault or attack.
      Synonym: (archaic) affray
    2. (countable) A loud noise; a cacophony, a din.
    3. (except Scotland, uncountable) Fright, terror; (countable) an instance of this.
      Synonym: (obsolete) affray
Derived terms
  • above the fray
  • frayboggard (obsolete)
  • make-fray (obsolete)
Related terms
  • affray
Translations

Etymology 4

An aphetic variant of defray.

Verb

fray (third-person singular simple present frays, present participle fraying, simple past and past participle frayed)

  1. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To bear the expense of (something); to defray.

References

Further reading

  • fray (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Spanish

Etymology

Clipping of fraile (“friar”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈfɾai/ [ˈfɾai̯]
  • Rhymes: -ai
  • Syllabification: fray

Noun

fray m (plural frayes)

  1. friar
    Synonym: fr.

Further reading

  • “fray”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Source: wiktionary.org