AFFRAYS

Noun

affrays

plural of affray

Verb

affrays

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of affray

Source: Wiktionary


AFFRAY

Af*fray", v. t. [p. p. Affrayed.] Etym: [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. Smale foules a great heap That had afrayed [affrayed] me out of my sleep. Chaucer.

2. To frighten; to scare; to frighten away. That voice doth us affray. Shak.

Af*fray", n. Etym: [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.]

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

3. A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl; a fray. "In the very midst of the affray." Motley.

4. (Law)

Definition: The fighting of two or more persons, in a public place, to the terror of others. Blackstone.

Note: A fighting in private is not, in a legal sense, an affray.

Syn.

– Quarrel; brawl; scuffle; encounter; fight; contest; feud; tumult; disturbance.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

27 April 2025

APPROXIMATE

(adjective) not quite exact or correct; “the approximate time was 10 o’clock”; “a rough guess”; “a ballpark estimate”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, on 25 September 2016, the Birla Institute of Management Technology (India) in Uttar Pradesh, India, constructed the largest coffee cups pyramid consisting of 23,821 cups. They used paper takeaway coffee cups to build the pyramid.

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