Entry Word: abrade

Function: verb

Meaning: 1 to damage or diminish by continued friction <ropes abraded by the rocks were a huge danger to the climbers>

Synonyms chafe, erode, fray, fret, gall, rub, wear

Related Words file, gnaw, grate, graze, grind, nibble, rasp, sandblast, sandpaper, scour, scrape, scuff, shave; erase, reduce, rub out, wear out, wipe (away); bite, break down, break up, chew, corrode, decompose, disintegrate, dissolve, eat; hone, sharpen, whet

2 to make sore by continued rubbing <the prisonerʼs manacles abraded his wrists and ankles until they bled> — see chafe 1
3 to damage by rubbing against a sharp or rough surface <the yacht's once-flawless wooden hull had been badly abraded by years of rough dockings> — see scrape 2