grate

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See also: Grate, gråte, and Gräte

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Late Latin grata, from Latin word for a hurdle; or Italian grata, of the same origin.

Noun[edit]

grate ‎(plural grates)

  1. A horizontal metal grill through which water, ash, or small objects can fall, while larger objects cannot.
    The grate stopped the sheep from escaping from their field.
    • Shakespeare
      a secret grate of iron bars
  2. A frame or bed, or kind of basket, of iron bars, for holding fuel while burning.
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

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

  1. (transitive) To furnish with grates; to protect with a grating or crossbars.
    to grate a window

Etymology 2[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

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.
    • 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.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.
    Listening to his teeth grate all day long drives me mad.‎
    The chalk grated against the board.‎
  3. (by extension, intransitive) To grate on one’s nerves; to irritate or annoy.
  4. (intransitive) To make an unpleasant rasping sound.
    She’s nice enough, but she can begin to grate if there is no-one else to talk to.‎
  5. (by extension, transitive, obsolete) To annoy.
    • Shakespeare
      News, my good lord Rome […] grates me.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Translations to be checked

Etymology 3[edit]

Latin gratus ‎(“agreeable”).

Adjective[edit]

grate ‎(comparative more grate, superlative most grate)

  1. (obsolete) Serving to gratify; agreeable.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir T. Herbert to this entry?)

References[edit]

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

Anagrams[edit]

Italian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

grate f

  1. Feminine plural form of grato

Anagrams[edit]

Latin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From grātus ‎(“agreeable”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

grātē (comparative grātius, superlative grātissimē)

  1. gladly, willingly
  2. gratefully, thankfully

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

  • grate in Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • grate in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
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