rasping 1 of 2

adjective

as in hoarse
harsh and dry in sound a patient beset by a rasping cough from years of smoking

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rasping

2 of 2

verb

present participle of rasp
1
as in rubbing
to make smooth by friction after sawing the board in half, rasp the ends to remove any splinters

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in scratching
to pass roughly and noisily over or against a surface the sound of fingernails rasping on the blackboard makes me cringe

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3
as in annoying
to disturb the peace of mind of (someone) especially by repeated disagreeable acts the two siblings seemed intent on rasping each other for the entire car trip

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in eroding
to damage or diminish by continued friction during the last ice age, glaciers rasped the surface, leaving the deeply scarred rock

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rasping
Verb
Yet Karter is utterly at ease behind the mic, rasping through a wistful melody with an unlit cigarette between her fingers, a black motorcycle jacket slipping off one shoulder. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 6 July 2026 Thiaw paced, head bowed, arms crossed, as his Senegal players celebrated Gueye’s second rasping shot of the afternoon. — Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 26 June 2026 Koulibaly misjudged a clearance and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was unable to keep out substitute Marcus Pedersen’s rasping shot to give Norway the lead close to halftime. — Monica Alba, NBC news, 24 June 2026 The voice was faint and rasping, like the sound of pebbles raked by a wave. — Maggie O’Farrell, Literary Hub, 2 June 2026 When the beetle takes flight, the woman, who is busy unpacking, doesn’t realize for a moment that there’s something out of place about that rasping ruckus, that foreign hum. — María Ospina, The Dial, 31 Mar. 2026 Thrips have rasping, sucking mouthparts. — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 3 Mar. 2026 Negron, in particular, completely throws himself into it, rasping and howling and wailing out ad-libs. — Paul Grein, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rasping
  1. hoarse
  2. rubbing
  3. scratching
  4. annoying
  5. eroding
  6. gruff
  7. grinding
  8. scraping
Adjective
  • Singers didn’t want their voices to get hoarse over the long night or week.
    — Vinod Sreeharsha, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Saliva collects at the mouthpiece and distorts the notes, making the blasts sound hoarse and off-pitch.
    — Lois K. Solomon, Sun Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of hoarse
Verb
  • Rubbing Alcohol Head to the drug store for a bottle of 70% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to clean windows.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The redyed fabrics showed uniform color uptake and washing and rubbing fastness comparable to the reference fabric, according to the study.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of rubbing
Verb
  • Its uniquely wide view will also help scientists decode the intricacies of dark matter and dark energy while perhaps clearing up some contradictions about our universe that scientists have been scratching their heads over for decades.
    — Monisha Ravisetti, Space.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Use non-abrasive cleaners and tools to avoid scratching the glass surface.
    — Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of scratching
Verb
  • Kids in all three countries loved learning dances from TikTok and annoying their siblings.
    — Ryan Lenora Brown, Christian Science Monitor, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Of course, this would depend on whether the managers choose to pick their strongest teams in what for some is a meaningless, even annoying extra fixture, for squads who just want to go home.
    — Eduardo Tansley, New York Times, 18 July 2026
Definition of annoying
Verb
  • By eroding the feedback loop that every stable government—even the most authoritarian—needs to stay in power, the Putin regime is becoming less capable of understanding the real condition of Russia.
    — Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026
  • This ambiguity from different agencies creates an information vacuum, fostering misinformation and eroding public trust.
    — Omer Awan, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of eroding
Adjective
  • Bob Hoskins’s gruff detective, Eddie Valiant, sees them as a sometimes-dangerous nuisance, while conniving film-studio power players see them as moneymakers, and the rest of humanity sees them as shades in between.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Scott, 88, shares the character's worldview, despite the filmmaker’s notoriously gruff exterior.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of gruff
Verb
  • Its core 1970s grinding yet melodic bluesy approach didn’t shift when synthesizers became the rage in the 1980s or when grunge overtook the rock world in the 1990s.
    — Rodney Ho, AJC.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The strain of ‘climbing the ladder’ The best esports players often have grinding schedules.
    — Erica D. Henn, The Conversation, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of grinding
Verb
  • Burger King has 286 locations in Ohio, according to the data-scraping website ScrapeHero.
    — Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Step 3 Reduce mixer speed to low and, with motor running, gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture; beat, stopping and scraping down sides and bottom of bowl as needed, until just combined.
    — Rick Martinez, Bon Appetit Magazine, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of scraping

Browse Nearby Words

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rasping
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Cite this Entry

“Rasping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rasping. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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