*fra*

n. [ Cf. F. affranchissement. ] The act of making free; enfranchisement. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ Cf. It. affrappare, frappare, to cut, mince, F. frapper to strike. See Frap. ] To strike, or strike down. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ p. p. Affrayed. ] [ OE. afraien, affraien, OF. effreer, esfreer, F. effrayer, orig. to disquiet, put out of peace, fr. L. ex + OHG. fridu peace (akin to E. free). Cf. Afraid, Fray, Frith inclosure. ] [ Archaic ] 1. To startle from quiet; to alarm. [ 1913 Webster ]

Smale foules a great heap
That had afrayed [ affrayed ] me out of my sleep. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To frighten; to scare; to frighten away. [ 1913 Webster ]

That voice doth us affray. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. afrai, affrai, OF. esfrei, F. effroi, fr. OF. esfreer. See Affray, v. t. ] 1. The act of suddenly disturbing any one; an assault or attack. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Alarm; terror; fright. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl; a fray. “In the very midst of the affray.” Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) The fighting of two or more persons, in a public place, to the terror of others. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ A fighting in private is not, in a legal sense, an affray. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Quarrel; brawl; scuffle; encounter; fight; contest; feud; tumult; disturbance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One engaged in an affray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Affray. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. a. [ OE. afrayed, affraide, p. p. of afraien to affray. See Affray, and cf. Afeard. ] Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear; apprehensive. [ Afraid comes after the noun it limits. ] “Back they recoiled, afraid.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word expresses a less degree of fear than terrified or frightened. It is followed by of before the object of fear, or by the infinitive, or by a dependent clause; as, to be afraid of death. “I am afraid to die.” “I am afraid he will chastise me.” “Be not afraid that I your hand should take.” Shak. I am afraid is sometimes used colloquially to soften a statement; as, I am afraid I can not help you in this matter. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Fearful; timid; timorous; alarmed; anxious. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. the framework and covering of an airplane or rocket (excluding the engines). [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ See Anfractuous. ] Anfractuous; as, anfractuose anthers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Anfractuosities [ Cf. F. anfractuosité. ] 1. A state of being anfractuous, or full of windings and turnings; sinuosity. [ 1913 Webster ]

The anfractuosities of his intellect and temper. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) A sinuous depression or sulcus like those separating the convolutions of the brain. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. anfractuosus, fr. anfractus a turning, a winding, fr. the unused anfringere to wind, bend; an-, for amb- + fractus, p. p. of frangere to break: cf. F. anfractueux. ] Winding; full of windings and turnings; sinuous; tortuous; as, the anfractuous spires of a horn. -- An*frac"tu*ous*ness, n. [1913 Webster]

n. A mazy winding. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Automobiles) An inswept frame. [ Colloq. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ L. confractus, p. p. of confringere. ] Broken in pieces; severed. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. confragosus; con- + fragosus, fr. frangere. See Fragile. ] Broken; uneven. [ Obs. ] “Confragose cataracts.” Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Confraternities /plu>. [ LL. confraternitas: cf. F. confraternité. See Fraternity. ] A society or body of men united for some purpose, or in some profession; a brotherhood. [ 1913 Webster ]

These live in one society and confraternity. Stow. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Defrauded; p. pr. & vb. n. Defrauding. ] [ L. defraudare; de- + fraudare to cheat, fr. fraus, fraudis, fraud: cf. OF. defrauder. See Fraud. ] To deprive of some right, interest, or property, by a deceitful device; to withhold from wrongfully; to injure by embezzlement; to cheat; to overreach; as, to defraud a servant, or a creditor, or the state; -- with of before the thing taken or withheld. [ 1913 Webster ]

We have defrauded no man. 2 Cor. vii. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

Churches seem injured and defrauded of their rights. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. defraudatio: cf. F. défraudation. ] The act of defrauding; a taking by fraud. [ R. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who defrauds; a cheat; an embezzler; a peculator. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. defraudement. ] Privation by fraud; defrauding. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Defrayed p. pr. & vb. n. Defraying. ] [ F. défrayer; pref. dé- (L. de or dis-) + frais expense, fr. LL. fredum, fridum, expense, fine by which an offender obtained peace from his sovereign, or more likely, atoned for an offense against the public peace, fr. OHG. fridu peace, G. friede. See Affray. ] 1. To pay or discharge; to serve in payment of; to provide for, as a charge, debt, expenses, costs, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

For the discharge of his expenses, and defraying his cost, he allowed him . . . four times as much. Usher. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To avert or appease, as by paying off; to satisfy; as, to defray wrath. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of defraying; payment; as, the defrayal of necessary costs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who pays off expenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Payment of charges. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Diffracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Diffracting. ] [ L. diffractus, p. p. of diffringere to break in pieces; dif- = dis- + frangere to break. See Fracture. ] To break or separate into parts; to deflect, or decompose by deflection, a&unr_; rays of light. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. diffraction. ] (Opt.) The deflection and decomposition of light in passing by the edges of opaque bodies or through narrow slits, causing the appearance of parallel bands or fringes of prismatic colors, as by the action of a grating of fine lines or bars. [ 1913 Webster ]

Remarked by Grimaldi (1665), and referred by him to a property of light which he called diffraction. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Diffraction grating. (Optics) See under Grating. --
Diffraction spectrum. (Optics) See under Spectrum. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That produces diffraction.

{ . See Disfranchise, Disfranchisement. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To disfranchise; to deprive of the rights of a citizen. -- Dis`en*fran"chise*ment n. [1913 Webster]

adj. deprived of the rights of citizenship, especially the right to vote. Opposite of enfranchised.
Syn. -- disfranchised, voteless. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Disfranchised p. pr. & vb. n. Disfranchising. ] [ Cf. Diffranchise. ] To deprive of a franchise or chartered right; to dispossess of the rights of a citizen, or of a particular privilege, as of voting, holding office, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sir William Fitzwilliam was disfranchised. Fabyan (1509). [ 1913 Webster ]

He was partially disfranchised so as to be made incapable of taking part in public affairs. Thirlwall. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. deprived of the rights of citizenship especially the right to vote. Opposite of enfranchised.
Syn. -- disenfranchised, voteless. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The act of disfranchising, or the state of being disfranchised; deprivation of privileges of citizenship or of chartered immunities. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sentenced first to dismission from the court, and then to disfranchisement and expulsion from the colony. Palfrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. ex- + franchise: cf. OF. esfranchir. ] To enfranchise. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ F. effrayer. See Affray. ] To frighten; to scare. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Frightful. [ Obs. ] Harvey. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To inclose, as in a frame. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Enfranchised p. pr. & vb. n. Enfranchising ] [ Pref. en- + franchise: cf. F. enfranchir. ] 1. To set free; to liberate from slavery, prison, or any binding power. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To endow with a franchise; to incorporate into a body politic and thus to invest with civil and political privileges; to admit to the privileges of a freeman; to give the right to vote. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To receive as denizens; to naturalize; as, to enfranchise foreign words. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. endowed with the rights of citizenship especially the right to vote. disenfranchised [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. Releasing from slavery or custody. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Admission to the freedom of a corporation or body politic; investiture with the privileges of free citizens. [ 1913 Webster ]

Enfranchisement of copyhold (Eng. Law), the conversion of a copyhold estate into a freehold. Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who enfranchises. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. & prep. [ OE. ] Fro. [ Old Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ It., for frate. See Friar. ] Brother; -- a title of a monk or friar; as, Fra Angelo. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. & t. To scold; to nag. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Crabbed; peevish. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., crash, din, tumult, It. fracasso, fr. fracassare to break in pieces, perh. fr. fra within, among (L. infra) + cassare to annul, cashier. Cf. Cashier, v. t. ] An uproar; a noisy quarrel; a disturbance; a brawl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A shallow iron pan to hold glass ware while being annealed. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. fracidus mellow, soft. ] Rotten from being too ripe; overripe. [ Obs. ] Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]