grate

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See also Gräte

Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this word, please add it to the page as described here.

[edit] Noun

grate (plural grates)

  1. A horizontal metal grille through which water, ash, or small objects can fall, while larger objects cannot.
    The grate stopped the sheep from escaping from their field.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Translations
a horizontal metal grille

[edit] Etymology 2

From Old French grater (“to scrape”) ( > French gratter), from Frankish kratton, Proto-Germanic. Cognate with Old High German krazzon[1] ( > German kratzen (“to scrawl”) > Danish kradse ), Icelandic krassa (“to scrawl”) [2] and Danish kratte.

[edit] Verb

grate (third-person singular simple present grates, present participle grating, simple past and past participle grated)

  1. (transitive, cooking) To shred things, usually foodstuffs, by rubbing across a grater.
    I need to grate the cheese before the potato is cooked.
  2. (intransitive) To rub against, making a (usually unpleasant) squeaking sound.
    Listening to his teeth grate all day long drives me mad.
    The chalk grated against the board.
    • 1856: Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part 3 Chapter X, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
      The gate suddenly grated. It was Lestiboudois; he came to fetch his spade, that he had forgotten. He recognised Justin climbing over the wall, and at last knew who was the culprit who stole his potatoes.
  3. (by extension) To grate on one’s nerves; to irritate or annoy.
    She’s nice enough, but she can begin to grate on my nerves if there is no-one else to talk to.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
shred
rub against
irritate
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] References

  1. ^ “glut” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001
  2. ^ Etymology of kradse in ODS

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Italian

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɡrate/

[edit] Adjective

grate f.

  1. Feminine plural form of grato

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Latin

[edit] Etymology

From grātus (“agreeable”).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adverb

grātē (comparative grātius, superlative grātissimē)

  1. gladly, willingly
  2. gratefully, thankfully

[edit] Related terms

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