graze
1- to feed on growing grass and pasturage, as do cattle, sheep, etc.
- 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.
- to feed on (growing grass).
- to put cattle, sheep, etc., to feed on (grass, pastureland, etc.).
- to tend (cattle, sheep, etc.) while they are at pasture.
Origin of graze
1graze
2- to touch or rub lightly in passing.
- to scrape the skin from; abrade: The bullet just grazed his shoulder.
- to touch or rub something lightly, or so as to produce slight abrasion, in passing: to graze against a rough wall.
- a touching or rubbing lightly in passing.
- a slight scratch, scrape, or wound made in passing; abrasion.
Origin of graze
2Related Words for graze
rub, scratch, scrape, ricochet, skim, kiss, skip, browse, nibble, bite, forage, eat, shave, chafe, carom, brush, abrade, crunch, gnaw, masticateExamples from the Web for graze
Contemporary Examples of graze
Their regional rivals are the nomadic Missiriya tribe, who come down from the north into Abyei so their cattle can graze.
Historical Examples of graze
If he walked slowly, so did the cow, and seized the opportunity to graze.
Tanglewood TalesNathaniel Hawthorne
Then the girl took the flax and drove the heifer out to graze.
Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk TalesAnonymous
So the heifer began to graze, but the girl sat down and began to weep.
Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk TalesAnonymous
We were traveling with oxen, and it was our custom to let them graze for two hours at noon.
Boy Scouts HandbookBoy Scouts of America
Beseech me from the grass; Wings frolic in the air, And graze me as they pass.
Enamels and Cameos and other PoemsThophile Gautier
graze
1- to allow (animals) to consume the vegetation on (an area of land), or (of animals, esp cows and sheep) to feed thus
- (tr) to tend (livestock) while at pasture
- informal to eat snacks throughout the day rather than formal meals
- Southern African informal to eat
- (intr) informal to switch between television channels while viewing without watching any channel for long
- US to pilfer and eat sweets, vegetables, etc, from supermarket shelves while shopping
- Southern African informal a snack; something to eat
Word Origin for graze
graze
2- (when intr, often foll by against or along) to brush or scrape (against) gently, esp in passing
- (tr) to break the skin of (a part of the body) by scraping
- the act of grazing
- a scrape or abrasion made by grazing
Word Origin for graze
Word Origin and History for graze
"to feed," Old English grasian "to feed on grass," from græs "grass" (see grass). Cf. Middle Dutch, Middle High German grasen, Dutch grazen, German grasen. Figurative use by 1570s. Related: Grazed; grazing.
"to touch," c.1600, perhaps a transferred sense from graze (v.1) via a notion of cropping grass right down to the ground (cf. German grasen "to feed on grass," used in military sense in reference to cannonballs that rebound off the ground). Related: Grazed; grazing. As a noun from 1690s.