grate

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“
On the back of the grate is a cast of Neptune, standing erect in his car, with

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Definitions (46)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (12)

  1. transitive verb To reduce to fragments, shreds, or powder by rubbing against an abrasive surface.
  2. transitive verb To cause to make a harsh grinding or rasping sound through friction: grated her teeth in anger.
  3. transitive verb To irritate or annoy persistently.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (21)

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Examples (50)

  • There is a handful of fire in the low grate, and the windows are open to temper the air through the silken curtains. —  Floyd Grandon's Honor
  • There was a fire in the grate, and by it were sitting face to face an old man and an old woman. —  The Five Jars
  • There was a fire in the library grate, and she threw herself into a chair before it and lounged there luxuriously, while above her head the new governess was tripping to and fro, "putting her room to rights," Nan suspected. —  The Governess
  • The fighting strain in his nature could only be satisfied by getting in at least one substantial return for the indignity put upon him He was lying near to the grate, his head having narrowly missed the fender rail in the fall. —  Men of Affairs
  • The lower bars of the grate were constantly blanked in with white powdery ash, which it was fatal to try to poke away. —  The Lost Girl
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

fireplace ·  stave ·  creak ·  hiss ·  chimney ·  scrape ·  rasp ·  clang ·  pipe ·  staircase ·  hinge ·  crackle

Used in the same contextWord Family

grate:   grating ·  grates ·  grated
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (7)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English graten, from Old French grater, to scrape, of Germanic origin.
  2. Middle English, from Medieval Latin grāta, alteration of Latin crātis, wickerwork.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from Middle English graten, from Old French grater, French gratter = Provencal Spanish gratar = Italian grattare, from Middle Latin gratare, cratare, scrape, scratch, from Old High German chrazzōn (orig. *krattōn), Middle High German kratzen, German kratzen, scrape, scratch, = Swedish kratta = Danish kratte, scrape. Cf. Swedish kratsa, Danish kradse, Dutch krassen (for *kratsen), scrape, modern Icelandic krassa, scrawl, apparently from the G. form: see cratch and scratch.
  2. from Middle English grate; from the verb.
  3. from Middle English grate, a trellis, lattice. Cf. Italian grate, a grate, lattice, gridiron, from Middle Latin grata, a grating, variant of crata, a grating, a crate, from Latin cratis, a hurdle: see crate and hurdle.
  4. from grate, n.
  5. from Latin gratus, pleasing, agreeable: see grace, n. Hence grateful, and (from Latin gratus) ult. ingrate, gratify, gratitude, gratuity, gratulate, etc., gree, agree, etc.
 

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/greɪt/
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