rasp
Americanverb (used with object)
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to scrape or abrade with a rough instrument.
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to scrape or rub roughly.
The glacier rasped the valley floor.
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to grate upon or irritate.
The sound rasped his nerves.
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to utter with a grating sound.
to rasp out an answer.
verb (used without object)
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to scrape or grate.
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to make a grating sound.
noun
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an act of rasping.
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a rasping sound.
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a coarse file, used mainly on wood, having separate conical teeth.
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(in an insect) a roughened surface used in stridulation.
noun
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a harsh grating noise
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a coarse file with rows of raised teeth
verb
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(tr) to scrape or rub (something) roughly, esp with a rasp; abrade
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to utter with or make a harsh grating noise
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to irritate (one's nerves or senses); grate (upon)
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rasp
1200–50; Middle English raspen < Old French rasper to scrape, grate < Germanic; see rape 3
Explanation
When you rasp, you either file wood with a metal tool, or you speak in a harsh, irritating voice. Your rasp-y voice might get you a gig as a lounge singer, but probably not as a preschool teacher. The tool called a rasp is a special kind of wood file that's much coarser than sandpaper, and when you use it, you rasp. If you've ever cared for a horse's hooves, you may have also used a rasp to file them. The "speak gratingly" meaning of rasp comes from the "scraping" sense of the word. If your voice sounds like a rasp against a rough surface, you're rasping.
Vocabulary lists containing rasp
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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.
To play Springsteen, White studied hundreds of archive videos to capture the singer's characteristic New Jersey rasp and athletic stage moves.
From BBC • Jun. 18, 2025
Throughout the album, Booth’s singing — her slight rasp and her behind-the-beat phrasing — draws you into the music’s rich emotion, as though she’s imparting a closely held secret.
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2024
She matched Winehouse’s signature jazzy tone, but doesn’t have the low register rasp that made Winehouse’s voice unique.
From Seattle Times • May 16, 2024
His lyrics, set to a heart-stirring rasp of a voice, told about the homeless and the working poor.
From Reuters • Aug. 9, 2023
Nailer made his way deeper into the ship, listening to the creak and rush of water outside, his stealthy footsteps and the rasp of his own loud breathing.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
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.
