frayings

A great pillow of it, a great swag like cloth, torn at the edges, ran its shreds and frayings out into the mud.

Zombies vs. Unicorns Justine Larbalestier 2010

All the ships, the ragged remnants, the fragments and frayings of all the rainbows of the most decorative of wet seasons, skirted the cloud or were tossed about in luminous heaps; and then the scene burnt itself out in extravagant redness, leaving the Isle in

Last Leaves from Dunk Island 2003

When fringing a square in this fashion, it is well to save some of the frayings out to knot in at the four corners where otherwise there would be gaps.

Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving Grace Christie

Its wide cracks were solid with the accumulations of time, while lint and frayings, and bits of cloth and string, were fairly woven into its rough surface everywhere, and tenaciously held.

The Rich Little Poor Boy Eleanor Gates 1913

Its discovery simply added an item of fact without helping their conjectures; but Melbury's indefinite alarm was greatly increased when, holding a candle to the ground, he saw in the teeth of the instrument some frayings from Grace's clothing.

The Woodlanders Thomas Hardy 1884

Here were swept the last pillings and frayings of the South Sea Bubble, in the shape of divers Speculators and Directors who had absconded from their Creditors, and were here pretty safe from arrest, for although not legally a sanctuary, it was as chancy to cop a man here on a capias as to put one's naked hand into a bag full of rats.

The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 2 of 3 Who was a sailor, a soldier, a merchant, a spy, a slave among the moors... George Augustus Sala 1861

The slot is the print of a stag's foot upon the ground; entries are places through which deer have lately passed, by which their size is conjectured; frayings are the pillings of their horns; and a deer is said to "fray a head" when he rubs it against a tree to cause the outer coat to fall away in the season of renewal.

Poems: Descriptive, Dramatic, Legendary and Contemplative, by William Gilmore Simms, Esq. In Two Volumes: Vol. I. I. Norman Maurice, a Tragedy; II. Atalantis, a Tale of the Sea; III. Tales and Traditions of the South; IV. The City of the Silent 1853

There may be here those who will pretend to track mischief from light words, as I would find a buck from his frayings.

The Betrothed Walter Scott 1801

Its discovery simply added an item of fact without helping their conjectures; but Melbury’s indefinite alarm was greatly increased when, holding a candle to the ground, he saw in the teeth of the instrument some frayings from Grace’s clothing.

The Woodlanders 2006