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grater

American  
[grey-ter] / ˈgreɪ tər /

noun

  1. a person or thing that grates. grate.

  2. any of various kitchen devices for grating grate grating food.

    a cheese grater.


ˈgrater British  
/ ˈɡreɪtə /

noun

  1. a kitchen utensil with sharp-edged perforations for grating carrots, cheese, etc

  2. a person or thing that grates

"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

Etymology

Origin of grater

1400–50; late Middle English. See grate 2, -er 1

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.

Handcrafted from an 18th-century original, this grater nestles neatly in a bowl for shredding cheese or vegetables.

From The Wall Street Journal

Early on, critics panned the building’s unconventional design, calling it everything from “tight” and “unadventurous” to a “supersized cheese grater.”

From Los Angeles Times

You can go fresh, which packs the sharpest punch but requires a little courage and a good grater, or prepared, which is milder and keeps nicely in the fridge.

From Salon

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

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