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
- rasper noun
- raspish adjective
- unrasped adjective
Etymology
Origin of rasp
1200–50; Middle English raspen < Old French rasper to scrape, grate < Germanic; rape 3
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.
Her voice remains a strong point - resonant and flexible, with a hint of the rasp she inherited from her father, Albanian rock singer Dukajin Lipa.
From BBC • Jun. 20, 2025
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
Working under the name of his cat, Fluss, Albini helped give this Bay Area punk trio a muscular bottom end that perfectly balanced singer Blake Schwarzenbach’s desperate rasp.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2024
Anycia’s low, laid-back rasp provides a fitting foil for Latto’s bounding exuberance; “I don’t know how to sing, but I’m her,” Latto spits, taking a quick breath as the punchline lands.
From New York Times • Jan. 19, 2024
He remembers trying to shout back, unsuccessfully, his mouth emitting nothing but the faintest rasp.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
