grating

[ grey-ting ]

See synonyms for: grating gratings gratingly on Thesaurus.com

noun

a fixed frame of bars or the like covering an opening to exclude persons, animals, coarse material, or objects while admitting light, air, or fine material.
Physics. diffraction grating.

Origin of grating

First recorded in 1605–15; grat(e)¹ + -ing¹

Other definitions for grating (2 of 2)

grating²

[ grey-ting ]

adjective

irritating or unpleasant to one's feelings.
(of a sound or noise) harsh, discordant, or rasping.

Origin of grating

First recorded in 1555–65; grat(e)² + -ing²

Other words from grating

grat·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use grating in a sentence

Since then, edges, bars, or gratings have become the stimuli of choice.
Are We Wired to Be Outside? - Issue 92: Frontiers | Grigori Guitchounts | November 11, 2020 | Nautilus
Ebert called the tourists “ teeth-gratingly broad and obvious”.
The Hangover II, and Ugly Americans on Screen | Alex Berg | May 25, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
But now he began to make such a strange crowing noise, just like a chair drawn heavily and gratingly along a kitchen-floor!
The Grey Woman and other Tales | Mrs. (Elizabeth) Gaskell
"Kill 'em both with one stone, then," wheezed the turnkey, gratingly throwing open the door of the cell.
Pierre; or The Ambiguities | Herman Melville
It was as though she had physically felt the steel of his blade slide gratingly once more down from her parry.
The Brimming Cup | Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Lift the latch quietly, though, for there is grief in the room, and noise comes harshly and gratingly upon a sorrowing ear.
The Elm Tree Tales | F. Irene Burge Smith
After all, it was so much simpler than if he had won, for then––then––He laughed gratingly at the thought.
A Breath of Prairie and other stories | Will Lillibridge

British Dictionary definitions for grating (1 of 2)

grating¹

/ (ˈɡreɪtɪŋ) /

noun

Also called: grate a framework of metal bars in the form of a grille set into a wall, pavement, etc, serving as a cover or guard but admitting air and sometimes light
short for diffraction grating

British Dictionary definitions for grating (2 of 2)

grating²

/ (ˈɡreɪtɪŋ) /

adjective

(of sounds) harsh and rasping
annoying; irritating

noun

(often plural) something produced by grating

Derived forms of grating

gratingly, adverb

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

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