serrate
Americanadjective
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Chiefly Biology. notched on the edge like a saw.
a serrate leaf.
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Numismatics. (of a coin) having a grooved edge.
verb (used with object)
adjective
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(of leaves) having a margin of forward pointing teeth
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having a notched or sawlike edge
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of serrate
1590–1600; < Latin serrātus, equivalent to serr ( a ) saw + -ātus -ate 1
Vocabulary lists containing serrate
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.
See Examples For:
The color pink gets its name from flowers in the genus Dianthus, commonly known as carnations or pinks, a reference to the serrate, or “pinked,” edges of the delicate, sweetly fragrant flowers.
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2022
Or like a jagged, serrate viola through Shostakovich’s last, 15th, String Quartet – its abrasive intorsion like a barbed needle that speaks of desolation, exclusion from closure or repose.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 26, 2018
The most ornamented of any of the Wu-Tang Clan’s solo albums, GZA’s “Liquid Swords” is a fully realized universe of kung fu imagery, street-corner mythology and serrate rhymes.
From New York Times ● Dec. 20, 2017
A Victorian field guide, for example, describes Agrimonia in rather uncompromising terms: "Herbs with stipulate, pinnate, serrate leaves and terminal bracteate spine-like racemes of small yellow flowers."
From The Guardian ● May 31, 2012
Leaves rounded, heart-shaped at the base, 5–7-lobed, doubly serrate, veiny, when full grown in summer 4–9´ wide.—Rich woods, N. Y. to Minn., and southward.
From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Asa Gray
Worse still, it's at odds with the serrated edges of Abrams' lyrics.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Much larger harvester ants stand nearby with their serrated jaws open, appearing vulnerable.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 14, 2026
The same company has revived it at its Broadway house, the Hayes Theater, in a crisply staged and terrifically acted production directed by Trip Cullman that keeps the play’s serrated edges as cutting as ever.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026
Once it’s cool to the touch, use a serrated knife to slice it horizontally, creating a top and bottom layer for your sandwich.
From Salon ● Feb. 3, 2026
The towering formations had been serrated by the constant desert wind and looked like massive temple spires.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
When they got back in studio post-pandemic, they wanted to shake up their longstanding approach to tracking live instruments themselves, then serrating them digitally.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2024
Another Palisades pitcher prepares a knuckleball by serrating stripes on the bottom, so that it looks almost like a basketball.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 31, 2018
Leagues beyond the shadowy hills serrating the purple horizon, it was lost like a bad dream yielding to the light of day.
From The Triumph of John Kars A Story of the Yukon by Ridgwell Cullum
The great beetling cliff towered far above, the jagged line of its summit serrating the zenith.
From The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains by Mary Noailles Murfree
From time to time the surface of the absorbent is renewed by serrating it with a comb-like instrument.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 643, April 28, 1888 by Various
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.
