fret vs worry

fret

verb
  • To be chafed or irritated; to be angry or vexed; to utter peevish expressions through irritation or worry. 

  • To be anxious, to worry. 

  • To be agitated; to rankle; to be in violent commotion. 

  • To decorate or ornament, especially with an interlaced or interwoven pattern, or (architecture) with carving or relief (raised) work. 

  • In the form fret out: to squander, to waste. 

  • To press down the string behind a fret. 

  • To cut through with a fretsaw, to create fretwork. 

  • To fit frets on to (a musical instrument). 

  • To be worn away; to chafe; to fray. 

  • To have secondary fermentation (fermentation occurring after the conversion of sugar to alcohol in beers and wine) take place. 

  • To chafe or irritate; to worry. 

  • To gnaw; to consume, to eat away. 

  • To form a pattern on; to variegate. 

  • To bind, to tie, originally with a loop or ring. 

  • To make rough, to agitate or disturb; to cause to ripple. 

noun
  • Agitation of the surface of a fluid by fermentation or some other cause; a rippling on the surface of water. 

  • An ornamental pattern consisting of repeated vertical and horizontal lines, often in relief. 

  • A fog or mist at sea, or coming inland from the sea. 

  • The worn sides of riverbanks, where ores or stones containing them accumulate after being washed down from higher ground, which thus indicate to miners the locality of veins of ore. 

  • A channel or passage created by the sea. 

  • One of the pieces of metal, plastic or wood across the neck of a guitar or other string instrument that marks where a finger should be positioned to depress a string as it is played. 

  • Agitation of the mind marked by complaint and impatience; disturbance of temper; irritation. 

  • Herpes; tetter (“any of various pustular skin conditions”). 

  • A saltire interlaced with a mascle. 

  • A channel, a strait; a fretum. 

worry

verb
  • To harass; to irritate or distress. 

  • To touch repeatedly, to fiddle with. 

  • To be troubled; to give way to mental anxiety or doubt. 

  • To seize or shake by the throat, especially of a dog or wolf. 

  • Disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress. 

noun
  • A strong feeling of anxiety. 

  • An instance or cause of such a feeling. 

  • A person who causes worry. 

How often have the words fret and worry occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )