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Definition of "rasp" [rasp]

  • To file or scrape with a coarse file having sharp projections. (verb-transitive)
  • To utter in a grating voice. (verb-transitive)
  • To grate on (nerves or feelings). (verb-transitive)
  • To scrape harshly; grate. (verb-intransitive)
  • To make a harsh grating sound. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "rasp" in a sentence
  • "Batman's rasp is more a character thing to conceal his identity."
  • "'"Our study provides strong evidence that the" rasp "[a certain electric signal] is a male advertisement call during courtship in this species,' said Wong, noting that the males also serenade females with lower frequency 'creaks.'""
  • "The root is then reduced to a pulp, by rubbing it up and down a kind of rasp, made as follows: -- A piece of board, about 3 in. wide, and 12 ft. long, is procured, upon which some coarse twine, made of the fibres of the cocoa nut husk, is tightly and regularly wound, and which affords an admirable substitute for a coarse rasp."