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frayed
in a sentence
grouped by contextual meaning

frayed as in:  frayed cloth

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The cuffs were frayed from so many washings.
frayed = showing wear with threads beginning to separate or hang loose
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
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    I'm not trusting my life to that frayed rope!
    frayed = showing wear
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    She likes frayed jeans.
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    This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.  (source)
    frayed = showed wear with threads beginning to separate and hang loose
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Show 10 more with 5 word variations
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    The dishes were chipped and the blankets frayed and no amount of beating could remove their musty smell.  (source)
    frayed = showing wear with threads beginning to separate or hang loose
  • •
    I could feel things unraveling around me. All the fraying edges of the dream world.  (source)
    fraying = coming apart (figurative use)
  • •
    The rope frays.†  (source)
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    His will to live, resilient through all of the trials on the raft, was beginning to fray.  (source)
    fray = show wear
  • •
    It hung on a nail near his bed—unfrayed, unsullied after all those years, with only the permanent bend in the fabric made by its long life on a nail.†  (source)
    unfrayed = not showing wear
    standard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unfrayed means not and reverses the meaning of frayed. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
  • •
    As she pulled on her red jacket and tied the frayed and knotted laces of her shoes, she thought about it.  (source)
    frayed = showing wear with threads beginning to separate or hang loose
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    Its sail hung skewed and fraying, its sides were patched.  (source)
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    On top of these were decorative so frays, oilcloths imprinted with bright flower patterns.†  (source)
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    Thus, the merchant who gambles away his savings will hold on to his finer suits until they fray, and tell anecdotes from the halls of the private clubs where his membership has long since lapsed.  (source)
    fray = show wear
  • •
    He was looking down now, playing with the frayed edges of the straw mat.  (source)
    frayed = showing wear with straws beginning to separate or hang loose
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frayed as in:  frayed nerves

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The constant pressure has frayed her nerves.
frayed = emotionally strained
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • •
    After waiting 90 minutes, my temper began to fray.
    fray = become emotionally strained
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    Edwards's nerves felt frayed now as he watched the jet coming in.  (source)
    frayed = emotionally strained
  • •
    The sight was a welcome relief for my frayed nerves.  (source)
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Show 8 more with 3 word variations
  • •
    I tried to stay calm, but the way he spat the word out—Blue—rankled my already frayed nerves.  (source)
    frayed = emotionally strained
  • •
    Every morning it's the same: the Americans ever closer, the Germans fraying at the seams.  (source)
    fraying = becoming emotionally strained
  • •
    Your patience would fray, you'd soon head for home ….  (source)
    fray = to strain emotionally, or to become emotionally strained
  • •
    His nerves are frayed.  (source)
    frayed = emotionally strained
  • •
    "You've got until sunrise," said Magnus, temper visibly fraying.  (source)
    fraying = becoming emotionally strained
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    His voice trailed off, but I picked up the frayed ends of his thought all the same—how could I not?  (source)
    frayed = emotionally strained
  • •
    That was before we knew about the fraying wires in his skull.  (source)
    fraying = becoming emotionally strained
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    He looked like he was fraying at the edges.  (source)
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fray as in:  into the fray

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I'm hesitant to join the political fray.
fray = fight or struggle
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
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    The special forces operation put the US back into the political fray in the Middle East.
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    Hans Hubermann entered the fray.  (source)
    the fray = noisy quarrel (argument)
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    Let the Commies and the Nazis kill each other off— they'll both jump into the fray soon enough.  (source)
    the fray = fight or battle
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Show 10 more with 2 word variations
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    So why didn't you join in the fray?  (source)
    the fray = fight
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    One by one the stars were winking out of existence, and the moon was beginning to fray at the edges.†  (source)
    fray = fight or struggle
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    Without them I wouldn't be able to jump back into the fray with my usual composure.  (source)
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    The curls are starting to fray on the ends, but the rest of my hair is still smooth.†  (source)
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    Jason didn't really understand, but he nodded, and Will and Nico dashed off into the fray.  (source)
    the fray = a noisy fight or other exciting situation
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    Attean did not offer him any further advice, but when the root string began to fray, he brought with him one day a fine bowstring of twisted animal sinew, which would last for a long time.†  (source)
    fray = fight or struggle
  • •
    Then Beorn stooped and lifted Thorin, who had fallen pierced with spears, and bore him out of the fray.  (source)
    the fray = fight or battle
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    We were probably starting to fray at the edges, and that was in no small part because of the pressure that we'd put on ourselves.†  (source)
    fray = fight or struggle
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    Over the next twelve hours, chaos continued to reign on Frobozz as every gunter in the OASIS scrambled to reach the planet and join the fray.†  (source)
    the fray = the fight or struggle
  • •
    Until her life began to fray, she'd always used her cruelty for a purpose, just as a samurai draws his sword—not for slashing at random, but for slashing at enemies.†  (source)
    fray = fight or struggle
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