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grate

grate

1 6.4
A harsh scraping sound made when things rub together
  • noun
  • /ɡreɪt/
translation icon : chirrido
  • He winced at the grate of the chalk on the blackboard as the teacher wrote a problem.

Examples

  • When the metal chair scraped against the floor, it produced an irritating grate that echoed through the hall.

  • She heard his key grate in the lock.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I want every heating grate opened and inspected.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Taslima stops at a sewer grate in the street.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • It was charming, welcoming, with a fire burning brightly in the grate and the silk-shaded lamps turned on.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The distiller himself was crouched over the fire, poking errant bits of charcoal back into the grate.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The room where he had been invited to dinner by Captain Geoffrey Stewart was Dickensian, with a congenial coal fire in the grate under a walnut mantelpiece.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The sudden noise made a harsh grate that startled everyone in the room.

Synonyms

scratching
vsgrate
33 2.1

A harsh scraping sound when two hard or rough things rub together

is like this but covers both single and ongoing sounds
scratch
vsgrate
20 1.2

A harsh scraping sound, for example from branches or a pen

is the broader term for similar harsh, grating sounds
scrape
vsgrate
9 3.2

A harsh, rough sound made when one thing rubs another

is the general word for that harsh friction sound
grinding
vsgrate
7 4.2

A harsh scraping sound made when hard surfaces rub together

is similar but names any harsh scraping sound broadly
scraping
vsgrate
5 2.3

A harsh sound made when one thing rubs another

is similar but can include friction without dragging

Antonyms

660 2.0

A period with no sound or speech

14 3.2

A pleasing arrangement of parts that go well together, like colors or sounds

How Harsh

screech
39 2.9
grate
1 6.4
murmur
36 4.1
rustle
12 4.4

Surface Forms

grate singular
grates plural

Etymology

The sound sense of grate comes from an old verb meaning 'to scrape', like when two hard things rub and make a rough noise. So a grate is a harsh, scraping sound.