rasp

[ rasp, rahsp ]
See synonyms for rasp on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to scrape or abrade with a rough instrument.

  2. to scrape or rub roughly: The glacier rasped the valley floor.

  1. to grate upon or irritate: The sound rasped his nerves.

  2. to utter with a grating sound: to rasp out an answer.

verb (used without object)
  1. to scrape or grate.

  2. to make a grating sound.

noun
  1. an act of rasping.

  2. a rasping sound.

  1. a coarse file, used mainly on wood, having separate conical teeth.

  2. (in an insect) a roughened surface used in stridulation.

Origin of rasp

1
1200–50; Middle English raspen<Old French rasper to scrape, grate <Germanic; see rape3

Other words from rasp

  • raspish, adjective
  • un·rasped, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rasp in a sentence

  • She did not feel in a gentle mood towards Sue; her voice and words had rasped her nerves for the last hour.

    Tessa Wadsworth's Discipline | Jennie M. Drinkwater
  • Landy rasped his feet to evenness and cautioned that he would have to be shod if used on hard-surfaced roads.

    David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney
  • "It is not as bad as you think," the words came again out of the fog, spoken with a gentleness which rasped Raf's nerves.

    Star Born | Andre Norton

British Dictionary definitions for rasp (1 of 2)

rasp1

/ (rɑːsp) /


noun
  1. a harsh grating noise

  2. a coarse file with rows of raised teeth

verb
  1. (tr) to scrape or rub (something) roughly, esp with a rasp; abrade

  2. to utter with or make a harsh grating noise

  1. to irritate (one's nerves or senses); grate (upon)

Origin of rasp

1
C16: from Old French raspe, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German raspōn to scrape

Derived forms of rasp

  • rasper, noun
  • raspish, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for rasp (2 of 2)

rasp2

/ (rɑːsp) /


noun
  1. an informal or Scot word for raspberry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012