grating — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Harsh and unpleasant.

   Examples

   grating vocals

2. Annoying; tending to annoy.

Noun

1. A barrier that has parallel or crossed bars blocking a passage but admitting air.

2. A frame of iron bars to hold a fire.

3. The loose material that comes from something being grated.

   Examples

   Add a few gratings of nutmeg to the hot milk.

4. An optical system of close equidistant and parallel lines or bars, especially lines ruled on a polished surface, used for producing spectra by diffraction.

5. The strong wooden lattice used to cover a hatch, admitting light and air; also, a movable lattice used for the flooring of boats.

   Usage

   • in-plural

6. The sound made by something that grates against something else.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   If, with these symptoms, are heard gratings of the teeth, irregular appetite, and sudden ebullitions of temper we may reasonably conclude that parasites are irritating the intestines and should be gotten rid of.

Adjective

1. unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound

   Synonyms

   gravellyraspingraspyroughscratchy

   Examples

   a gravelly voice

Noun

1. a barrier that has parallel or crossed bars blocking a passage but admitting air

   Synonyms

   grate

   Broader terms

   barrier

2. a frame of iron bars to hold a fire

   Synonyms

   grate

   Broader terms

   frameworkframe

3. optical device consisting of a surface with many parallel grooves in it; disperses a beam of light (or other electromagnetic radiation) into its wavelengths to produce its spectrum

   Synonyms

   diffraction grating

   Broader terms

   optical device