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graze - 9 dictionary results

graze

1  [greyz] verb, grazed, graz⋅ing.
Use graze in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to feed on growing grass and pasturage, as do cattle, sheep, etc.
2. Informal. to eat small portions of food, as appetizers or the like, in place of a full-sized meal or to snack during the course of the day in place of regular meals.
–verb (used with object)
3. to feed on (growing grass).
4. to put cattle, sheep, etc., to feed on (grass, pastureland, etc.).
5. to tend (cattle, sheep, etc.) while they are at pasture.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME grasen, OE grasian, deriv. of græs grass

Related forms:
graze⋅a⋅ble, adjective
grazer, noun

graze

2  [greyz] verb, grazed, graz⋅ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to touch or rub lightly in passing.
2. to scrape the skin from; abrade: The bullet just grazed his shoulder.
–verb (used without object)
3. to touch or rub something lightly, or so as to produce slight abrasion, in passing: to graze against a rough wall.
–noun
4. a grazing; a touching or rubbing lightly in passing.
5. a slight scratch, scrape, or wound made in passing; abrasion.
Origin:
1595–1605; perh. special use of graze 1 ; for the semantic shift cf. F effleurer, deriv. of fleur flower, in the same meaning

Related forms:
grazer, noun
graz⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To graze
graze 1   (grāz)   
v.   grazed, graz·ing, graz·es

v.   intr.
  1. To feed on growing grasses and herbage.
  2. Informal
    1. To eat a variety of appetizers as a full meal.
    2. To eat snacks throughout the day in place of full meals.
v.   tr.
  1. To feed on (herbage) in a field or on pastureland.
  2. To feed on the herbage of (a piece of land).
  3. To afford herbage for the feeding of: This field will graze 30 head of cattle.
  4. To put (livestock) out to feed.
  5. To tend (feeding livestock) in a pasture.

[Middle English grasen, from Old English grasian, from græs, grass; see ghrē- in Indo-European roots.]
graze'a·ble, graz'a·ble adj., graz'er n.
graze 2   (grāz)   
v.   grazed, graz·ing, graz·es

v.   tr.
  1. To touch lightly in passing; brush. See Synonyms at brush1.
  2. To scrape or scratch slightly; abrade.
v.   intr.
To scrape or touch something lightly in passing.
n.  
  1. The act of brushing or scraping along a surface.
  2. A minor scratch or abrasion.

[Perhaps from graze1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Graze

Graze\ (gr[=a]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Grazed (gr[=a]zd); p. pr. & vb. n. Grazing.] [OE. grasen, AS. grasian, fr. gr[ae]s grass. See Grass.]

1. To feed or supply (cattle, sheep, etc.) with grass; to furnish pasture for.

A field or two to graze his cows. --Swift.

2. To feed on; to eat (growing herbage); to eat grass from (a pasture); to browse.

The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead. --Pope.

3. To tend (cattle, etc.) while grazing.

When Jacob grazed his uncle Laban's sheep. --Shak.

4. To rub or touch lightly the surface of (a thing) in passing; as, the bullet grazed the wall.

Graze

Graze\, v. i. 1. To eat grass; to feed on growing herbage; as, cattle graze on the meadows.

2. To yield grass for grazing.

The ground continueth the wet, whereby it will never graze to purpose. --Bacon.

3. To touch something lightly in passing.

Graze

Graze\, n. 1. The act of grazing; the cropping of grass. [Colloq.]

Turning him out for a graze on the common. --T. Hughes.

2. A light touch; a slight scratch.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : graze
Spanish: pastar, pacer,
German: grasen,
Japanese: 草をはむ
More Translations »

graze  (1)
"feed," O.E. grasian "to feed on grass," from græs "grass" (see grass).

graze  (2)
"touch," 1604, perhaps a transferred sense from graze (1) via a notion of cropping grass right down to the ground (cf. Ger. grasen "to feed on grass," used in military sense in ref. to cannonballs that rebound off the ground).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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