as in hoarse
harsh and dry in sound
a patient beset by a rasping cough from years of smoking
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in rubbing
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 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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rasping
Liam Twomey, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2025
Thrips have rasping, sucking mouthparts.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 5 Aug. 2025
Verb
His summer holiday after scoring three times in the group stage for Portugal in the European Under-21 Championship — punctuated by a rasping right-footed shot into the top corner against Poland that circulated widely among Chelsea fans online — consisted of a week spent with friends in the Algarve.
—Liam Twomey, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2025
Thrips have rasping, sucking mouthparts.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rasping
Adjective
-
Her voice was loud and hoarse, calling out comments or exhortations concerning the game.—
Rachel Cusk,
New Yorker,
24 Aug. 2025
-
Joe Biden’s disastrous June 2024 debate performance, when the nation witnessed a hoarse and feeble president losing his train of thought and struggling to finish sentences, ended his re-election campaign.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
8 July 2025
Verb
-
But to have everyone there, rubbing elbows and being just as outlandish and quirky as ever, three decades ago just felt off.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Other signs that your cat is content and relaxed with you include kneading, and head rubbing and bunting.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The cats kept them up each night with their incessant whining and scratching at their doors.—
Duaa Eldeib,
ProPublica,
10 Sep. 2025
-
As a player just scratching the surface of his potential with so much still ahead of him, the coming months are critical to his hopes of landing an invite to Italy.—
Chris Johnston,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The Sounders’ defenders swarmed Messi from the first minute, and midfielder Obed Vargas was particularly physical, annoying the Argentine icon time and again.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
1 Sep. 2025
-
In fairness, Arsenal seemed to be annoying Liverpool for much of the first hour.—
Amy Lawrence,
New York Times,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Rising living costs, inflation eroding purchasing power, and longer life spans have all made stepping away from the workforce more difficult than ever.—
Aliss Higham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Since 2019, cumulative inflation stands at 26%, eroding any real progress made through job-hopping or promotions.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Busta also received an assist from Papoose and Joyner Lucas, all of them sharing lyrical wordplay and seamless tradeoffs as Busta swung between his trademark dichotomy of rapping to gruff bellowing.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
8 Sep. 2025
-
The Old Man was short and gruff and had chin whiskers.—
Robert Easton,
Outdoor Life,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This budget-friendly Presto knife sharpener features a two-stage sharpening system for grinding knife blades and honing them to a polished and sharp finish.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
9 Sep. 2025
-
Miley Cyrus shocked viewers by stripping down to a nude bikini top and briefs and grinding, twerking and thrusting on fellow performer Robin Thicke at the 2013 show in one of the raciest performances in MTV history.—
Kate Hogan,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Some of those models make the curve tighter, bringing Bermuda into the path, and others give the storm a broader turn, potentially scraping as far as Puerto Rico.—
Alex Harris
Updated September 4,
Miami Herald,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Authors are suing tech firms for scraping their books.—
Don Markland,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rasping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rasping. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
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