Fray
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(1): ( v. i.) To wear out or into shreads, or to suffer injury by rubbing, as when the threads of the warp or of the woof wear off so that the cross threads are loose; to ravel; as, the cloth frays badly.
(2): ( n.) A fret or chafe, as in cloth; a place injured by rubbing.
(3): ( n.) Affray; broil; contest; combat.
(4): ( v. t.) To bear the expense of; to defray.
(5): ( v. t.) To rub; to wear off, or wear into shreds, by rubbing; to fret, as cloth; as, a deer is said to fray her head.
(6): ( v. t.) To frighten; to terrify; to alarm.
(7): ( v. i.) To rub.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [2]
FRAY . This obsolete Eng. verb is found in Zechariah 1:21 and 1Ma 14:12 (‘every man sat under his vine and his fig tree, and there was none to fray them’); and ‘fray away’ occurs in Deuteronomy 28:26 , Jeremiah 7:33 , Sir 22:20 (‘whoso casteth a stone at the birds frayeth them away’). It is a shortened form of ‘afray,’ of which the ptcp. ‘afraid’ is still in use.
King James Dictionary [3]
FRAY, n. L. fractura, from frango, frico.
1. A boil, quarrel or violent riot, that puts men in fear. This is the vulgar word for affray, and the sense seems to refer the word to Fr. effrayer. 2. A combat a battle also, a single combat or duel. 3. A contest contention. 4. A rub a fret or chafe in cloth a place injured by rubbing.
FRAY, To fright to terrify. Obs.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [4]
frā ( חרד , hāradh , "to make afraid," "cause to tremble": the King James Version of Deuteronomy 28:26; Jeremiah 7:33; Zechariah 1:21; the Revised Version (British and American) "frighten," "terrify"). See War .
