abrasive

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English

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Etymology

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From abrase +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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abrasive (comparative more abrasive, superlative most abrasive)

  1. Producing abrasion; rough enough to wear away the outer surface. [First attested in 1805.]
  2. Being rough and coarse in manner or disposition; overly aggressive and causing irritation. [First attested in 1925.]
    An abrasive person can grate on one's sensibilities.
    Despite her proper upbringing, we found her manners to be terribly abrasive.
    • 1978, Richard Nixon, RN: the Memoirs of Richard Nixon[1], Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 570:
      The women of the movement, it struck me, were more humorless and more single-minded in their total dedication to the ideology than were the men. In fact, Chiang Ching was unpleasantly abrasive and aggressive. At one point that evening she turned to me and in a challenging voice asked, "Why did you not come to China before now?" Since the ballet was in progress at the time, I did not respond.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun

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abrasive (plural abrasives)

  1. A hard inorganic substance or material consisting in powder or granule form such as sandpaper, pumice, or emery, used for cleaning, smoothing, or polishing. [First attested in the mid 19th century.][1]
  2. (geology) Rock fragments, sand grains, mineral particles, used by water, wind, and ice to abrade a land surface.
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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References

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  1. ^ Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abrasive”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 7.

French

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Adjective

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abrasive

  1. feminine singular of abrasif

German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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abrasive

  1. inflection of abrasiv:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /a.braˈzi.ve/
  • Rhymes: -ive
  • Hyphenation: a‧bra‧sì‧ve

Adjective

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abrasive f pl

  1. feminine plural of abrasivo

Anagrams

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