1
as in to rub
to make smooth by friction
after sawing the board in half, rasp the ends to remove any splinters
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
3
as in to annoy
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in to wear
to damage or diminish by continued friction
during the last ice age, glaciers rasped the surface, leaving the deeply scarred rock
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rasp
Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 12 Feb. 2025
Over Martin’s delicate playing, her aching rasp resonated to the rafters, a melancholy shudder that still sounded comforting.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 15 Feb. 2025
Steve Douglas, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Mar. 2024
And then Elisabeth uses it, and her spine splits open, leaving her a rasping husk of flesh while an alternate self rises, in the dewy buff, to survey her taut flesh with a clinical eye in the mirror.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for rasp
Noun
The soft rasp of her voice was a surprise, deeper than Sam would have expected from someone so small.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 12 Feb. 2025
Over Martin’s delicate playing, her aching rasp resonated to the rafters, a melancholy shudder that still sounded comforting.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 15 Feb. 2025
Verb
City trailed 1-0 at halftime after Marcus Rashford’s rasping long-range strike in the eighth minute and a glaring miss from the prolific Haaland from barely two meters out.
—Steve Douglas, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Mar. 2024
And then Elisabeth uses it, and her spine splits open, leaving her a rasping husk of flesh while an alternate self rises, in the dewy buff, to survey her taut flesh with a clinical eye in the mirror.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for rasp
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rasp
Noun
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Rather than trying to recreate feathers from scratch, biohybrid designs incorporate actual feathers into otherwise synthetic machines.—
Ian Rose,
Smithsonian Magazine,
10 June 2025
-
This essentially enables developers to access and modify the model’s core knowledge and bypass the high costs and time associated with training a system from scratch.—
Ryan Browne,
CNBC,
10 June 2025
Verb
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So in the long run, even somewhere like Oxford won't be rubbing their hands with glee if life is harder for Harvard — because Oxford and Harvard do projects together.—
Willem Marx,
NPR,
5 June 2025
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Privately, Musk rubbed a number of senior officials the wrong way during his time in government, and his complaints about a key legislative goal may further agitate his critics in the administration.—
Miranda Nazzaro,
The Hill,
4 June 2025
Verb
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With Jackson Jobe out of action until possibly 2027, Detroit has already scraped the bottom of the barrel of their pitching depth.—
Daniel R. Epstein,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2025
-
Beat butter and 1 cup of the powdered sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, about 2 minutes.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
10 June 2025
Verb
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The comedy as a second-class sibling to the drama is a notion that has annoyed the people who make television comedies for years.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
7 June 2025
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In some cases, that will be obvious: You’ll get annoyed by weird or loud noises and odors, notice your energy bill has skyrocketed, or spot signs of a leak.—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
3 June 2025
Verb
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Devers, who often wears his emotions on sleeve, offered only a straightforward answer.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
16 June 2025
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Ora wore her hair in long, loose waves for the event, with her curtain bangs parted in the center and pushed to either side of her face, then curled into flipped-out, Farrah Fawcett-style swoops.—
Kara Nesvig,
Allure,
16 June 2025
Noun
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Like any old building, Larkin Lodge has creaks and drafts, but Emily thinks there’s more going on.—
Gabino Iglesias,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
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Photo : Icon 4x4 For this prototype, sound-deadening materials and carpeting were absent in order to help locate newfound creaks and rattles that a V-8 engine might cover up.—
Michael Van Runkle,
Robb Report,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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May 20, 2025 An emergency motion for that temporary furlough was filed Tuesday in federal court, and documents were obtained and reviewed by The Times.—
Christie D’Zurilla,
Los Angeles Times,
13 June 2025
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Back then, filing a patent or trademark was a fairly simple process.—
Joe Hudicka,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2025
Verb
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Say your mother kept bugging you to change a bad habit.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
11 May 2025
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Next season is when all the little things start to bug me.—
Ryan Schwartz,
TVLine,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rasp.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rasp. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.
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