Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To wear down or rub away by friction; erode. See Synonyms at chafe.
- v. To make weary through constant irritation; wear down spiritually.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To rub or wear away; rub or scrape off; detach particles from the surface of by friction: as, glaciers abrade the rocks over which they pass; to abrade the prominences of a surface.
- Synonyms Scratch, Chafe, etc. See scrape, transitive verb
Wiktionary
- v. To rub or wear off; to waste or wear away by friction; to damage or make rough; as, to abrade rocks.
- v. obsolete spelling of abraid.
- v. To rub or wear off; to waste or wear away by friction; to damage or make rough; as, to abrade rocks.
- v. obsolete spelling of abraid.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To rub or wear off; to waste or wear away by friction.
- v. Same as abraid.
WordNet 3.0
- v. rub hard or scrub
- v. wear away
Etymologies
- Latin abrādere, to scrape off : ab-, away; see ab-1 + rādere, to scrape; see rēd- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“• Start to "abrade" the area by distressing the marked area with sandpaper.”
“She wiped the piece of broccoli away from the hairs on his arm, taking care not to abrade his skin.”
“To clean an unidentified spot of dirt from a page of a Samaritan Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible), Ms. de Arteni used a very soft vinyl eraser, a medium that won't abrade the vellum (animal skin) of the rare 13th-century volume.”
“In the most hazardous situations, they can abrade turbine blades, clog the innards of modern jet engines and plug their cooling systems, causing them to stop running.”
The Wall Street Journal: How Ash Particles Damage a Jet Engine
“I pulled my elbows up, felt the scruff of the mattress gently abrade the backs of my arms, and settled into a modified prone position.”
The Huffington Post: CUBA: FIVE DAYS ON THE CHEAP, FREE CELL, FREE GUARD DOG, FREE GUARD
“But I relaxed my throat and let the liquid in, gulping the entire thing down fast, letting the sharp tannins abrade my mouth and tongue, my throat, and even my stomach.”
“And they pose a greater infection hazard than regular manicures since the vibrating electric file can easily cut or abrade the skin.”
Consumer Reports: 8 things not to buy this holiday season, for yourself or anyone else
“He would have naught but stubs left if he made it a habit to abrade them so often.”
“The power of this film creeps up on you by stealth; its dramatic idiom is admittedly mannered in the Leigh style but shy of caricature, and designed consistently to abrade the audience's consciousness without irritating? fingertips down the blackboard, not fingernails.”
“Plastic switches and push-buttons also need to be replaced as these abrade quickly.”
Volcanic Ash—Effects on Communication and Mitigation Strategies
yarb Citation on unrugged. Jun 5, 2009