colloq. Also 9 -et. [f. the vb.] A state of worry or mental distress; a fretting care or anxiety. Also, a person who worries others or himself.
1838. Dickens, O. Twist, xvii. ‘A porochial life, ma’am, continued Mr. Bumble,… ‘is a life of worrit, and vexation, and hardihood.’
1844. in Ashwell, Life Bp. Wilberforce (1880), I. vi. 221. Assuaging any and every worret, temporal and spiritual.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxiii. ‘Mrs. Richards’s eldest, Miss!’ said Susan, ‘and the worrit of Mrs. Richards’s life!
1861. Calverley, Charades, i. Endless cares and endless worrits, well I knows it, has a wife.
1889. Gretton, Memory’s Harkback, 68. The young men did not mind strictness, but they would not stand worrying…. B was as kindly and good-natured as possible, but he was a ‘worrit.’
