noun
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a kitchen utensil with sharp-edged perforations for grating carrots, cheese, etc
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a person or thing that grates
Etymology
Origin of grater
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This inner surface was covered with small teeth called denticles, forming a rough grinding area similar to a cheese grater.
From Science Daily • May 1, 2026
Handcrafted from an 18th-century original, this grater nestles neatly in a bowl for shredding cheese or vegetables.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025
She comes back a couple of times a week, picking through the ash to look for things from a past life: cup, cracked plate, cheese grater, mixing bowl.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2025
The wiring diagram was made by slicing up a fly brain using what is essentially a microscopic cheese grater, photographing each of the 7,000 slices and digitally putting them altogether.
From BBC • Oct. 2, 2024
“Still, we can’t send you home looking like a cheese grater, can we?”
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
