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graze. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
graze, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
graze in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
graze you have here. The definition of the word
graze will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
graze, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Old English grasian (“to feed on grass”), from græs (“grass”).
Pronunciation
Noun
graze (plural grazes)
- The act of grazing; a scratching or injuring lightly on passing.
- A light abrasion; a slight scratch.
- The act of animals feeding from pasture.
1904, Empire Review, volume 6, page 188:If it be sundown, when the herds are returning from their daily graze in the long grass of the jungle, clouds of dust will be marking their track along every approach to the village […]
Translations
act of grazing or scratching lightly
- Bulgarian: докосване (bg) n (dokosvane), закачане (bg) n (zakačane)
- Czech: škrábnutí n
- Finnish: naarmuttaminen (fi), raapaisu (fi), hipaisu (fi)
- French: éraflure (fr)
- German: Kratzen (de) n, Schrammen (de) n, Schaben (de) n, Schleifen (de) n, Schürfen (de) n
- Greek: γρατζούνισμα (el) n (gratzoúnisma), γδάρσιμο (el) n (gdársimo)
- Hungarian: súrolás (hu)
- Italian: sbucciatura f
- Macedonian: допи́рање n (dopíranje), гре́бење n (grébenje)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: streife
- Occitan: escarraunhadura, escorgadura
- Portuguese: arranhão (pt) m, ralado (pt) m, raspado m
- Russian: задева́ние (ru) n (zadevánije)
- Spanish: rasguño (es), arañazo
- Swedish: tuscha (sv), toucha
- Turkish: sıyırma (tr), sıyırmak (tr)
- Zazaki: gaz (diq) c, sawen
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Translations to be checked
Verb
graze (third-person singular simple present grazes, present participle grazing, simple past and past participle grazed)
- (transitive) To feed or supply (cattle, sheep, etc.) with grass; to furnish pasture for.
1732 March 6 (Gregorian calendar; date written), [Jonathan Swift], Considerations upon Two Bills Sent Down from the R H the H of L to the Hble H of C Relating to the Clergy of Id, London: A. Moore, , published 1732, →OCLC, page 24:He hath a Houſe and Barn in repair, a Field or tvvo to graze his Covvs, vvith a Garden and Orchard.
1999, Neil Gaiman, Stardust:Although it is perfectly good meadowland, none of the villagers has ever grazed animals on the meadow on the other side of the wall.
- (transitive, intransitive) To feed on; to eat (growing herbage); to eat grass from (a pasture)
Cattle graze in the meadows.
1712 (date written), Alexander Pope, “Messiah. A Sacred Eclogue, in Imitation of Virgil’s Pollio.”, in The Works of Alexander Pope Esq. , volume I, London: J and P Knapton, H. Lintot, J and R Tonson, and S. Draper, published 1751, →OCLC, page 41, lines 77–78:The lambs vvith vvolves ſhall graze the verdant mead, / And boys in flovv'ry bands the tyger lead; […]
1993, John Montroll, Origami Inside-Out, page 41:The bird [Canada goose] is more often found on land than other waterfowl because of its love for seeds and grains. The long neck is well adapted for grazing.
- (transitive) To tend (cattle, etc.) while grazing.
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :Shylock: When Jacob grazed his uncle Laban's sheep
- (intransitive) To eat small amounts of food periodically throughout the day, rather than at fixed mealtimes, often not in response to hunger.
- Coordinate term: snack
2008, Mohgah Elsheikh, Caroline Murphy, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome:Furthermore, people who take the time to sit down to proper meals find their food more satisfying than people who graze throughout the day. If you skip meals, you will inevitably end up snacking on more high-fat high-sugar foods.
2018 July 24, Anahad O’Connor, “When We Eat, or Don’t Eat, May Be Critical for Health”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Many people, however, snack and graze from roughly the time they wake up until shortly before they go to bed.
- To shoplift by consuming food or drink items before reaching the checkout.
1992, Shoplifting, page 18:Grazing refers to customers who consume food items before paying for them, for example, a customer bags one and a half pounds of grapes in the produce department, eats some as she continues her shopping […]
2001, Labor Arbitration Information System, volume 2, page 59:Had the Grievant attempted to pay for the Mylanta or actually paid for it, then she would not be guilty of grazing or shoplifting.
- (transitive) To rub or touch lightly the surface of (a thing) in passing.
the bullet grazed the wall
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter XXIII, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:But in that gale, the port, the land, is that ship’s direst jeopardy; she must fly all hospitality; one touch of land, though it but graze the keel, would make her shudder through and through.
- (transitive) To cause a slight wound to; to scratch.
to graze one's knee
- (intransitive) To yield grass for grazing.
1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. , 3rd edition, London: William Rawley; rinted by J H for William Lee , →OCLC:The sewers must be kept so as the water may not stay too long in the spring; for then the ground continueth the wet, whereby it will never graze to purpose that year.
Derived terms
Translations
to feed or supply with grass
- Afrikaans: laat wei
- Albanian: kullos
- Arabic: رَعَى (raʕā)
- Armenian: արածեցնել (hy) (aracecʻnel)
- Aromanian: pascu, pãshunedz
- Belarusian: па́свіць impf (pásvicʹ)
- Bulgarian: паса́ (bg) impf (pasá)
- Catalan: péixer (ca)
- Cebuano: sabsab, sibsib
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 放牧 (zh) (fàngmù)
- Czech: pást (cs)
- Finnish: ruokkia (fi)
- French: faire paître
- Friulian: passonâ
- German: grasen lassen, weiden lassen, beweiden (de)
- Greek: βόσκω (el) (vósko)
- Hungarian: legeltet (hu)
- Irish: cuir ar féarach
- Italian: pascolare (it)
- Japanese: 放牧する (ja) (ほうぼくする, hōboku suru)
- Korean: 방목하다 (ko) (bangmokhada)
- Macedonian: пасе impf (pase)
- Malayalam: മേയ്ക്കുക (ml) (mēykkuka)
- Maori: whāngai karaehe
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: бэлчээх (mn) (belčeex)
- Mongolian: ᠪᠡᠯᠴᠢᠭᠡᠬᠦ (belčigekü)
- Nepali: चराउनु (carāunu)
- Occitan: apasturar (oc), apasturgar
- Old Church Slavonic:
- Cyrillic: пасти impf (pasti)
- Oromo: dheeduu
- Ottoman Turkish: چایرلامق (çayırlamak)
- Polish: paść (pl) impf
- Portuguese: dar de pastar
- Quechua: michiy
- Romanian: paște (ro), pășuna (ro)
- Russian: пасти́ (ru) impf (pastí)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: па̑сти impf
- Roman: pȃsti (sh) impf
- Slovak: pásť impf
- Slovene: pasti impf
- Spanish: pastear (es), apacentar (es)
- Tamil: மேய் (ta) (mēy)
- Thai: เลี้ยง (th) (líiang)
- Turkish: otlatmak (tr), otarmak (tr) (regional)
- Ukrainian: па́сти impf (pásty)
- Vietnamese: chăn (vi)
- Walloon: afôrer, sognî (wa)
- Welsh: pori (cy), porfelu
- Yiddish: פּאַשען (pashen)
- Zazaki: çaraynen
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to eat grass from a pasture
- Afrikaans: wei
- Albanian: kullos
- Arabic: اِرْتَعَى (irtaʕā)
- Moroccan Arabic: سْرح (srəḥ)
- Armenian: արածել (hy) (aracel)
- Aromanian: pascu
- Belarusian: па́свіцца impf (pásvicca)
- Bulgarian: паса́ (bg) impf (pasá)
- Catalan: pasturar (ca), péixer (ca)
- Cebuano: sabsab, sibsib
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 吃草 (chīcǎo)
- Czech: pást se (cs) impf
- Dalmatian: puoscro
- Dutch: grazen (nl), begrazen (nl)
- Esperanto: paŝtiĝi
- Finnish: laiduntaa (fi)
- French: brouter (fr), paître (fr), pâturer (fr)
- Friulian: passonâ, passi
- Galician: pastar (gl), pacer (gl)
- Georgian: ძოვა (ʒova), ძოვს (ʒovs)
- German: weiden (de), grasen (de)
- Alemannic German: etze
- Greek: βόσκω (el) (vósko)
- Hindi: चरना (hi) (carnā)
- Hungarian: legel (hu)
- Icelandic: bíta gras
- Irish: bí ar féarach, bí ag innilt, bí ag iníor
- Italian: pascere (it), pascolare (it), brucare (it)
- Japanese: 草をはむ (くさをはむ, kusa o hamu)
- Korean: 풀을 뜯다 (pureul tteutda), 뜯어먹다 (tteudeomeokda)
- Lao: please add this translation if you can
- Latin: pābulor, pasco
- Luxembourgish: weeden
- Macedonian: пасе impf (pase)
- Malayalam: മേയുക (ml) (mēyuka)
- Maori: kai karaehe, tītongi (of shellfish eating algae), tītongitongi (of shellfish eating algae), tītongi (of herbivores eating grass or pasture)
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: бэлчих (mn) (belčix)
- Mongolian: ᠪᠡᠯᠴᠢᠬᠦ (belčikü)
- Nepali: चर्नु (ne) (carnu)
- Ngazidja Comorian: hula
- Norman: paître (Jersey)
- Norwegian: beite, gresse, gå på gress
- Portuguese: pastar (pt)
- Romanian: paște (ro), păstori (ro)
- Russian: пасти́сь (ru) impf (pastísʹ)
- Sardinian: paschere
- Slovak: pásť sa impf
- Spanish: pacer (es), pastar (es), apacentarse (es)
- Swedish: beta (sv)
- Tamil: மேய் (ta) (mēy)
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Turkish: otlamak (tr)
- Ukrainian: па́стися impf (pástysja)
- Walloon: paxhe (wa), broster (wa), tchampyî (wa), waidyî (wa)
- Welsh: pori (cy)
- Yiddish: פּאַשען (pashen)
- Zazaki: çeren, çaran
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to tend cattle while grazing
- Aromanian: pascu, pãshunedz
- Azerbaijani: otarmaq, güdmək
- Bulgarian: паса́ (bg) impf (pasá)
- Dutch: hoeden (nl)
- Finnish: paimentaa (fi)
- French: faire paître, paître (fr) (archaic)
- Friulian: passi, passonâ
- German: hüten (de), grasen lassen, weiden lassen
- Greek: βόσκω (el) (vósko)
- Hindi: चराना (hi) (carānā)
- Italian: pascere (it)
- Macedonian: напасува impf (napasuva), пасе impf (pase)
- Ngazidja Comorian: ulisa
- Romanian: paște (ro), pășuna (ro)
- Russian: пасти́ (ru) impf (pastí)
- Turkish: otlatmak (tr), otarmak (tr) (regional)
- Yiddish: פּאַשען (pashen)
- Zazaki: erobiyayen, qot kuwen
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to eat small amounts of food periodically throughout the day
to rub or touch lightly the surface of in passing
- Bulgarian: закачам (bg) (zakačam), одрасквам (bg) (odraskvam)
- Czech: škrábnout pf
- Dutch: schampen (nl)
- Finnish: hipaista (fi), hipoa (fi), naarmuttaa (fi), raapaista (fi), sivuta (fi)
- French: raser (fr), effleurer (fr), frôler (fr)
- German: touchieren (de), streifen (de), ankratzen, schrammen (de)
- Hungarian: súrol (hu)
- Irish: scinn
- Italian: sfiorare (it), lambire (it), rasentare, radere (it)
- Maori: hani, hārau, honi, honihoni, karipi, miri, ripi, wani
- Portuguese: arranhar (pt), raspar (pt), ralar (pt)
- Russian: цара́пать (ru) impf (carápatʹ)
- Turkish: sıyırmak (tr)
- Zazaki: gaz kerden, sera werden
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to cause a slight wound to
- Bulgarian: обелвам си кожата (obelvam si kožata)
- Czech: škrábnout pf
- Finnish: raapaista (fi), naarmuttaa (fi)
- French: érafler (fr), écorcher (fr)
- German: abschürfen (de), schürfen (de), ankratzen
- Greek: γδέρνω (el) (gdérno)
- Hungarian: karcol (hu), horzsol (hu)
- Italian: sbucciare (it), spellare (it), scorticare (it), escoriare
- Portuguese: arranhar (pt), ralar (pt)
- Russian: поцара́пать (ru) pf (pocarápatʹ), содра́ть (ru) pf (sodrátʹ), ссади́ть (ru) pf (ssadítʹ)
- Turkish: sıyırmak (tr)
- Zazaki: gaz kerden, nequr kerden, cı perayen
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Translations to be checked
Anagrams
Dutch
Verb
graze
- (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of grazen