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graze

 - 7 dictionary results
Glaze
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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
Glaze
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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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Slang Dictionary
graze

and browse
  1. in.
    to eat a bit of everything at parties. : We will just graze on party snacks rather than eat a full meal. , I think I'll just browse here and skip going out to dinner.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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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