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
Carl Anka, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
Thrips have rasping, sucking mouthparts.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 5 Aug. 2025
Verb
Cody Gapko struck the post three times — once with a deflected cross, twice with rasping drives — while Senne Lammens saved Alexander Isak’s shot with an outstretched right foot.
—Carl Anka, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
Thrips have rasping, sucking mouthparts.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rasping
Adjective
-
November 17, 2025 What To Know During an Oval Office meeting focused primarily on preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Trump sounded hoarse when speaking with reporters and officials.—
Anna Commander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Nov. 2025
-
Savanna Branham was in sixth grade when her voice became hoarse and would not improve She was diagnosed with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, which causes recurring tumors to grow on the vocal cords.—
Wendy Grossman Kantor,
PEOPLE,
17 Nov. 2025
Verb
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That also includes light touch on your scalp from brushing your hair, the sensation of rubbing a blanket over your body, or feeling a breeze brush against your skin.—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
4 Nov. 2025
-
There seemed to be little ambiguity as to the nature of their connection, as Curtis was spotted rubbing the actress' shoulders, and Aniston was later seen with her hand in his hand.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The best vacuums for hardwood floors have a powerful cleaning performance without scratching or causing damage.—
Terri Williams,
Architectural Digest,
6 Jan. 2026
-
That pollen can fill the air, covers cars and cement, and can start noses running, eyes watering and throats scratching.—
Nicole Villalpando,
Austin American Statesman,
5 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Sometimes, rage bait can be relatively harmless – a recipe that contains disgusting food combinations or someone annoying their pet, partner or sibling.—
Issy Ronald,
CNN Money,
1 Dec. 2025
-
But what’s been annoying me even more is that these women should have been trained by producers to start recording on their own cell phones if drama starts to unfold after cameras go down.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
12 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Most recently, in 2022, the county had completed a more than $18 million project for beach nourishment, which is the process of adding sand to an eroding beach to widen it.—
Samantha Delouya,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
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Meanwhile, a recent constitutional reform that gave Mexico’s ruling party control over all three branches of government has fed fears of rising state control over the economy, eroding confidence.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Approved by The Boss himself, the live-music and storytelling show finds Azaria slipping into his best Springsteen guise for a night of gruff tales and greatest hits.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
24 Dec. 2025
-
The gory skit ends with the gruff older man rushing through the door to announce he’s made amends with his son, only to have his head sliced off by the flying chainsaw.—
Mitchell Peters,
Billboard,
21 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Downtown tunnel closures The rail grinding project will also be coordinated with the weekend closures of the Downtown subway tunnel to combine efforts in the area and reduce the impact on riders.—
Garrett Behanna,
CBS News,
7 Jan. 2026
-
Marty Supreme follows a wildly gifted, unapologetically cocky aspiring table tennis superstar named Marty Mauser (Chalamet), grinding it in Lower Manhattan circa 1952.—
David Canfield,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Stokes, who seldom completes a five-Test series these days, had dragged his creaking, aching body through almost five full matches of hard, hot, energy-sapping cricket, like scraping butter over too much bread, but somehow soldiering on.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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Reinforcing Data Risk and Privacy Over the past three years, Jain has been using her skills as part of Meta’s anti-scraping initiative.—
Jason Phillips,
USA Today,
2 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rasping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rasping. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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