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

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

• grazeable adjective
• grazer noun
• grazingly adverb

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

Example Sentences

The van headlights shine on a deer grazing next to the dirt road that led to Sandy June’s on my previous couple of visits.

From Literature

At the edge of a clearing we see a deer grazing on the long grasses.

From Literature

To limit the spread of the disease, the authorities have banned livestock farmers from allowing their animals to graze freely.

From Barron's

Cows would graze on farms after the harvest and their manure would help fertilise the land.

From BBC

The tree also feels intimate with the sky, its leaves grazing a few of those stars.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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