Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A coarse file with sharp, pointed projections.
  • noun The act of filing with a rasp.
  • noun A harsh grating sound.
  • intransitive verb To file or scrape with a rasp.
  • intransitive verb To utter in a grating voice.
  • intransitive verb To grate on (nerves or feelings).
  • intransitive verb To scrape harshly; grate.
  • intransitive verb To make a harsh, grating sound.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To belch; eject wind from the stomach.
  • noun The fruit of the common (European) raspberry. See raspberry.
  • noun A coarse form of file, having its surface dotted with separate protruding teeth, formed by the indentations of a pointed punch.
  • noun A machine or large instrument for use in rasping; a rasper.
  • noun The radula or odontophore of a mollusk; the lingual ribbon. See cut under radula.
  • noun A rasping surface.
  • noun The rough surface of the tongue of some animals.
  • To abrade by rubbing or grating with a coarsely rough instrument; grate, or grate away, with a rasp or something comparable to it.
  • Figuratively, to affect or perform harshly, as if by the use of a rasp; grate upon; utter with a rough and jarring effect: as, to rasp one's feelings; to rasp out a refusal.
  • To rub against something gratingly; produce a rasping effect: as, the vessel rasped against the quay: literally or figuratively.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A coarse file, on which the cutting prominences are distinct points raised by the oblique stroke of a sharp punch, instead of lines raised by a chisel, as on the true file.
  • noun obsolete The raspberry.
  • noun (Bot.) a Brazilian palm tree (Iriartea exorhiza) which has strong aërial roots like a screw pine. The roots have a hard, rough surface, and are used by the natives for graters and rasps, whence the common name.
  • transitive verb To rub or file with a rasp; to rub or grate with a rough file
  • transitive verb Hence, figuratively: To grate harshly upon; to offend by coarse or rough treatment or language

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A coarse file, on which the cutting prominences are distinct points raised by the oblique stroke of a sharp punch, instead of lines raised by a chisel, as on the true file.
  • noun The sound made by this tool when used, or any similar sound.
  • noun obsolete The raspberry.
  • verb intransitive To use a rasp
  • verb intransitive To make a noise similar to the one a rasp in use makes; to utter rasps
  • verb transitive To work something with a rasp

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb utter in a grating voice
  • verb scrape with a rasp
  • noun a coarse file with sharp pointed projections
  • noun uttering in an irritated tone

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Old French raspe, from rasper, to rasp, of Germanic origin. V., Middle English raspen, from Middle Dutch raspen, from Old French rasper.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • on a lazy monday

    rub the cheddar with a rasp

    I've had a CourtneyLove kind of day

    And I with the substance firmly in my grasp

    December 8, 2008

  • There was a soft rasp and a flash of bright metal. Everyone observing jumped, as if we'd all been given a small electric shock at exactly the same moment - the moment the blade, a brilliant broadsword, swung - with a sound like a wet branch snapping - through Ellis's neck. From "The Last Werewolf" by Glen Duncan.

    March 28, 2012