graze

¹ American  

[greyz] / greɪz /

verb (used without object)

grazed, grazing

1. to feed on growing grass and pasturage, as do cattle, sheep, etc.

2. Informal. to eat small portions of food, as appetizers or the like, in place of a full-sized meal or to snack during the course of the day in place of regular meals.

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verb (used with object)

grazed, grazing

1. to feed on (growing grass).

2. to put cattle, sheep, etc., to feed on (grass, pastureland, etc.).

3. to tend (cattle, sheep, etc.) while they are at pasture.

graze ² American  

[greyz] / greɪz /

verb (used with object)

grazed, grazing

1. to touch or rub lightly in passing.

2. to scrape the skin from; abrade.

   The bullet just grazed his shoulder.

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verb (used without object)

grazed, grazing

1. to touch or rub something lightly, or so as to produce slight abrasion, in passing.

   to graze against a rough wall.

noun

grazes plural

1. a touching or rubbing lightly in passing.

2. a slight scratch, scrape, or wound made in passing; abrasion.

graze ¹ British  

/ ɡreɪz /

verb

1. to allow (animals) to consume the vegetation on (an area of land), or (of animals, esp cows and sheep) to feed thus

2. (tr) to tend (livestock) while at pasture

3. informal to eat snacks throughout the day rather than formal meals

4. informal to eat

5. informal (intr) to switch between television channels while viewing without watching any channel for long

6. to pilfer and eat sweets, vegetables, etc, from supermarket shelves while shopping

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noun

1. informal a snack; something to eat

graze ² British  

/ ɡreɪz /

verb

1. to brush or scrape (against) gently, esp in passing

2. (tr) to break the skin of (a part of the body) by scraping

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noun

1. the act of grazing

2. a scrape or abrasion made by grazing

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• grazer
  noun
• grazeable
  adjective
• grazingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• grazes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of graze¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English grasen, Old English grasian, derivative of græs grass

Origin of graze²

First recorded in 1350–1400; perhaps special use of graze ¹

Explanation

Cows graze on grass, and people graze on snacks and finger foods. Graze can also mean to scrape, like when you graze your elbow after falling off your bike. Graze means "to feed on grass" as sheep, horses, cows, do in a meadow — they eat a little at a time, but constantly. People sometimes graze too, munching on small snacks all day long instead of having a real meal. It also means “to touch lightly,” like when I pitch a baseball to you — and I accidentally hit your arm. With luck, the ball only grazed you, meaning you aren't hurt at all.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

graze grazes grazed grazing

Freemen can graze animals on the land owned by them, which in this case is Cymdda Bach and Brynteg.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

Frauds have involved the animals being moved, or double counted, or put to graze in someone else’s land.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026

In the summer, costs on the dairy farm are low, as the cows graze the fields.

From BBC ● May 27, 2026

“Justice is when you can trot where you like and graze where you want. When you can fight to go your own way,” he says in the book.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

Our group walks out into the field, and we spread our blankets on the meadows where the sheep and goats graze during the day.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

"We've had complaints about it in the past and people obviously raising concerns about cuts and grazes, so it is something we have to factor in," she says.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2024

Following a decade living in Portland, Ore., “I just want it to feel like Southern California,” he says as he grazes a palm over a salvia plant, releasing its aroma.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2024

We also see her wielding a sledgehammer, which she sometimes grazes against the wall or licks like a lollipop.

From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2023

The camera captures her in adoring close-up as it grazes over her eyes, traced with black eyeliner and wet with tears.

From New York Times ● May 11, 2023

My hand grazes a dress—intricately beaded bodice, voluminous taffeta skirt.

From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli

The ball grazed his glove before bouncing squarely on his noggin and over the wall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

Yet images circulated online that seemed to show that granite being grazed by Canadian fingertips, and on Saturday the Swiss men’s team accused Canada of the same infraction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026

Cattle are grazed across the marshes to create healthy habitats for birds, insects and plants.

From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026

But he was run out in an unlucky manner when a shot from Rana grazed Henry's hand and deflected onto the stumps at the non-striker's end.

From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026

Once I was old enough, I went with the older boys to protect the cattle as they grazed on the thick grasses around our village.

From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau

About 30 miles from Clint McRae’s southeastern Montana ranch, a local utility company bought roughly 6,000 acres of cattle grazing land.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

But urbanisation, changing land use and the abandonment of grazing and other traditional farming practises, appear to have significantly reduced available food sources, the wildlife groups noted.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

On what should be a busy morning at Kaliluni Primary School in southern Kenya, only cows are in attendance, grazing between broken classroom doors that hang open to reveal rows of empty chairs.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Those include pile burn and goat grazing projects in the Santa Monica Mountains and San Gabriel Valley.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

I pressed my forehead against the window as the bus passed by rolling green fields dotted with black-and-white cows grazing.

From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda

Related Words

• ricochet
• rub
• scrape
• scratch
• skim
• skip