French

Verb

frayer

1. (transitive) to open up, clear (a path etc.)
2. (zoology, intransitive) to spawn, to fertilize an egg
3. (reflexive, se frayer, literally figuratively) to find (one's way through something); to clear (oneself) a path
   • 2000, Jean-François Parot, L'énigme des Blancs-Manteaux, JC Lattès 2012, p. 32:

     Nicolas, accoutumé à l'ordre bonhomme des marchés provinciaux, dut se frayer un chemin au milieu d'un véritable chaos.

     Nicolas, used to the good-natured order of provincial markets, had to find his way through a veritable chaos.

4. (obsolete) to rub

Conjugation

This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer, the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to both groups, according to the writer's preference).