fringe

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Related to fringes: interference fringes

fringe

(frĭnj)

1. A decorative border or edging of hanging threads, cords, or strips, often attached to a separate band.

2. Something that resembles such a border or edging.

3. A marginal, peripheral, or secondary part: "They like to hang out on the geographical fringes, the seedy outposts" (James Atlas).

4. Those members of a group or political party holding extreme views: the lunatic fringe.

5. Any of the light or dark bands produced by the diffraction or interference of light.

6. A fringe benefit.

tr.v. fringed, fring·ing, fring·es

1. To decorate with or as if with a fringe: The weaver fringed the edge of the scarf.

2. To serve as a fringe to: Ferns fringed the pool.

[Middle English frenge, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, alteration of Late Latin fimbria; see fimbria.]

fring′y adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fringe

(frɪndʒ)

1. (Clothing & Fashion) an edging consisting of hanging threads, tassels, etc

a. an outer edge; periphery

b. (as modifier): fringe dwellers; a fringe area.

3. (modifier) unofficial; not conventional in form: fringe theatre.

4. (Hairdressing & Grooming) chiefly Brit a section of the front hair cut short over the forehead

5. an ornamental border or margin

6. (General Physics) physics any of the light and dark or coloured bands produced by diffraction or interference of light

vb (tr)

7. to adorn or fit with a fringe or fringes

8. to be a fringe for: fur fringes the satin.

[C14: from Old French frenge, ultimately from Latin fimbria fringe, border; see fimbria]

ˈfringeless adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fringe

(frɪndʒ)

n., v. fringed, fring•ing. n.

1. a decorative border of threads, cords, or the like, usu. hanging loosely from a raveled edge or separate strip.

2. anything resembling or suggesting this; border; rim: a fringe of grass.

3. an outer edge; margin; periphery: on the fringe of the art world.

4. something regarded as peripheral, marginal, secondary, or extreme in relation to something else: the lunatic fringe of a political party.

5. Optics. one of the alternate light and dark bands produced by diffraction or interference.

6. fringe benefit.

v.t.

7. to furnish with or as if with a fringe.

8. to serve as a fringe for, or to be arranged so as to suggest a fringe: armed guards fringing the building.

[1325–75; Middle English frenge < Old French « Latin fimbriae fringe]

fringe′less, adj.

fringe′like`, adj.

fring′y, adj.

fringe

Past participle: fringed
Gerund: fringing

Imperative
fringe
fringe

Present
I fringe
you fringe
he/she/it fringes
we fringe
you fringe
they fringe

Preterite
I fringed
you fringed
he/she/it fringed
we fringed
you fringed
they fringed

Present Continuous
I am fringing
you are fringing
he/she/it is fringing
we are fringing
you are fringing
they are fringing

Present Perfect
I have fringed
you have fringed
he/she/it has fringed
we have fringed
you have fringed
they have fringed

Past Continuous
I was fringing
you were fringing
he/she/it was fringing
we were fringing
you were fringing
they were fringing

Past Perfect
I had fringed
you had fringed
he/she/it had fringed
we had fringed
you had fringed
they had fringed

Future
I will fringe
you will fringe
he/she/it will fringe
we will fringe
you will fringe
they will fringe

Future Perfect
I will have fringed
you will have fringed
he/she/it will have fringed
we will have fringed
you will have fringed
they will have fringed

Future Continuous
I will be fringing
you will be fringing
he/she/it will be fringing
we will be fringing
you will be fringing
they will be fringing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been fringing
you have been fringing
he/she/it has been fringing
we have been fringing
you have been fringing
they have been fringing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been fringing
you will have been fringing
he/she/it will have been fringing
we will have been fringing
you will have been fringing
they will have been fringing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been fringing
you had been fringing
he/she/it had been fringing
we had been fringing
you had been fringing
they had been fringing

Conditional
I would fringe
you would fringe
he/she/it would fringe
we would fringe
you would fringe
they would fringe

Past Conditional
I would have fringed
you would have fringed
he/she/it would have fringed
we would have fringed
you would have fringed
they would have fringed

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

fringe

bangs

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	fringe - the outside boundary or surface of something outer boundary, periphery bound, boundary, edge - a line determining the limits of an area
	2.	fringe - a part of the city far removed from the center; "they built a factory on the outskirts of the city" outskirt city district - a district of a town or city suburb, suburban area, suburbia - a residential district located on the outskirts of a city
	3.	fringe - one of the light or dark bands produced by the interference and diffraction of light interference fringe optical phenomenon - a physical phenomenon related to or involving light
	4.	fringe - a social group holding marginal or extreme views; "members of the fringe believe we should be armed with guns at all times" social group - people sharing some social relation
	5.	fringe - a border of hair that is cut short and hangs across the forehead bang coif, coiffure, hair style, hairdo, hairstyle - the arrangement of the hair (especially a woman's hair)
	6.	fringe - an ornamental border consisting of short lengths of hanging threads or tassels edging - border consisting of anything placed on the edge to finish something (such as a fringe on clothing or on a rug)
Verb	1.	fringe - adorn with a fringe; "The weaver fringed the scarf" handicraft - a craft that requires skillful hands adorn, decorate, grace, ornament, embellish, beautify - make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.; "Decorate the room for the party"; "beautify yourself for the special day"
	2.	fringe - decorate with or as if with a surrounding fringe; "fur fringed the hem of the dress" border, environ, surround, skirt, ring - extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle; "The forest surrounds my property"

fringe

noun

1. border, edging, edge, binding, trimming, hem, frill, tassel, flounce The jacket had leather fringes.

2. edge, limits, border, margin, march, marches, outskirts, perimeter, periphery, borderline They lived together on the fringe of the campus.

adjective

1. unofficial, alternative, radical, innovative, avant-garde, unconventional, unorthodox numerous fringe meetings held during the conference

verb

1. border, edge, surround, bound, skirt, trim, enclose, flank Swampy islands of vegetation fringe the coastline.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

fringe

noun

1. A fairly narrow line or space forming a boundary:

border, borderline, brim, brink, edge, edging, margin, periphery, rim, verge.

Chiefly Military: perimeter.

2. The periphery of a city or town:

edge, environs, outskirt (often used in plural), skirt (used in plural), suburb (used in plural).

verb

To put or form a border on:

border, bound, edge, margin, rim, skirt, verge.

Translations

Spanish / Español

Select a language:

franja fleco flequillo linde periferia

fringe

[frɪndʒ]

A. N

1. [of shawl, rug] → (ribete m de) flecos mpl

2. (Brit) [of hair] → flequillo m

3. (also fringes) [of forest] → linde m or f, lindero m; [of city] → periferia f
on the fringes of the lake → en los bordes del lago
to live on the fringe of society → vivir al margen de la sociedad

4. (= group of people) → elementos mpl marginales

B. CPD fringe benefits NPL → suplementos mpl, ventajas fpl adicionales
fringe group N → grupo m marginal
fringe meeting N → reunión f paralela
fringe organization N → organización f marginal or no oficial
fringe theatre N (Brit) → teatro m experimental

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

fringe

(frindʒ) noun

1. a border of loose threads on a carpet, shawl etc. Her red shawl has a black fringe.fleco, franja

2. hair cut to hang over the forehead. You should have your fringe cut before it covers your eyes.flequillo

3. the outer area; the edge; the part farthest from the main part or centre of something. on the fringe of the city.borde

verb

to make or be a border around. Trees fringed the pond.bordear, circundar

fringe

→ flequillo

References in classic literature ?

A hunting-shirt of ruffled calico of bright dyes, or of ornamented leather, falls to his knee; below which, curiously fashioned legging, ornamented with strings, fringes, and a profusion of hawks' bells, reach to a costly pair of moccasons of the finest Indian fabric, richly embroidered with beads.

View in context

I would like much to see the fringes of the Jordan in spring-time, and Shechem, Esdraelon, Ajalon and the borders of Galilee--but even then these spots would seem mere toy gardens set at wide intervals in the waste of a limitless desolation.

View in context

Beyond was a fringe of excitement, and farther than that fringe the inflammation had not crept as yet.

View in context

The speaker was a broadly-built man, whose large, flat, pale face was bounded on the North by a fringe of hair, on the East and West by a fringe of whisker, and on the South by a fringe of beard--the whole constituting a uniform halo of stubbly whitey-brown bristles.

View in context

All the main valleys in the Cordillera are characterized by having, on both sides, a fringe or terrace of shingle and sand, rudely stratified, and generally of considerable thickness.

View in context

The colours of the curtains and their fringe - the tints of crimson and gold - appear everywhere in profusion, and determine the character of the room.

View in context

At one side was a barrowman with a load of walnuts, and beside the barrow a bedraggled woman with a black fringe and a chequered shawl thrown over her head.

View in context

In front stood the bow-men, ten deep, with a fringe of under-officers, who paced hither and thither marshalling the ranks with curt precept or short rebuke.

View in context

He did not like the openness of it, yet his path lay across to the fringe of trees that marked the banks of the stream.

View in context

Yet so strong is the parental ambition among those Polygons who are, as it were, on the fringe of the Circular class, that it is very rare to find a Nobleman of that position in society, who has neglected to place his first-born in the Circular Neo-Therapeutic Gymnasium before he has attained the age of a month.

View in context

Dainty sandals encased her feet, while a wimple of violet silk bordered in gold fringe, lay becomingly over her head and shoulders.

View in context

The stream is brimful now, and lies high in this little withy plantation, and half drowns the grassy fringe of the croft in front of the house.

View in context

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