GRAZE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does graze mean? 

• GRAZE (noun)
  The noun GRAZE has 2 senses:

1. a superficial abrasion

2. the act of grazing

  Familiarity information: GRAZE used as a noun is rare.

• GRAZE (verb)
  The verb GRAZE has 5 senses:

1. feed as in a meadow or pasture

2. break the skin (of a body part) by scraping

3. let feed in a field or pasture or meadow

4. scrape gently

5. eat lightly, try different dishes

  Familiarity information: GRAZE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GRAZE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A superficial abrasion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("graze" is a kind of...):

abrasion; excoriation; scrape; scratch (an abraded area where the skin is torn or worn off)

Derivation:

graze (scrape gently)

graze (break the skin (of a body part) by scraping)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of grazing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

graze; grazing

Hypernyms ("graze" is a kind of...):

eating; feeding (the act of consuming food)

Derivation:

graze (scrape gently)

graze (feed as in a meadow or pasture)

graze (let feed in a field or pasture or meadow)

graze (break the skin (of a body part) by scraping)

graze (eat lightly, try different dishes)

• GRAZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they graze    ... he / she / it grazes   
Past simple: grazed   
Past participle: grazed   
-ing form: grazing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Feed as in a meadow or pasture

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

browse; crop; graze; pasture; range

Context example:

the herd was grazing

Hypernyms (to "graze" is one way to...):

eat; feed (take in food; used of animals only)

Verb group:

range (let eat)

crop; graze; pasture (let feed in a field or pasture or meadow)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

The animals graze

Derivation:

graze; grazing (the act of grazing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Break the skin (of a body part) by scraping

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

She was grazed by the stray bullet

Hypernyms (to "graze" is one way to...):

injure; wound (cause injuries or bodily harm to)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Did he graze his foot?

Derivation:

graze (the act of grazing)

graze (a superficial abrasion)

grazing (the act of brushing against while passing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Let feed in a field or pasture or meadow

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

crop; graze; pasture

Hypernyms (to "graze" is one way to...):

feed; give (give food to)

Verb group:

browse; crop; graze; pasture; range (feed as in a meadow or pasture)

Domain category:

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "graze"):

grass (feed with grass)

drift (drive slowly and far afield for grazing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They graze the animals

Derivation:

graze (the act of grazing)

grazier (a rancher who grazes cattle or sheep for market)

grazing (the act of grazing)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Scrape gently

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

crease; graze; rake

Context example:

graze the skin

Hypernyms (to "graze" is one way to...):

brush (touch lightly and briefly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "graze"):

shave (touch the surface of lightly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

graze (a superficial abrasion)

grazing (the act of brushing against while passing)

graze (the act of grazing)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Eat lightly, try different dishes

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

browse; graze

Context example:

There was so much food at the party that we quickly got sated just by browsing

Hypernyms (to "graze" is one way to...):

nosh; snack (eat a snack; eat lightly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue graze

Derivation:

graze (the act of grazing)

 Context examples 

The nag was grazing at some distance, not suspecting any harm.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Because horses are prohibited from grazing in designated grazing areas, to prevent them from competing for food with cattle, some farmers have been letting horses graze unattended in forests.

(Belly up to the bamboo buffet: Pandas vs. horses, NSF)

Lord John had the shoulder of his coat torn away, but the creature's teeth had only grazed the flesh.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The sun was just grazing the top of the oak.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

C. haemolyticum is found in soil and water and is pathogenic, being the causative agent of Red Water disease in grazing animals.

(Clostridium haemolyticum, NCI Thesaurus)

His eyes fell upon the horses, grazing upon the scanty pasture, and in an instant all had come back to him—his mission, his comrades, the need for haste.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Holmes followed him, and I, leaving the horse grazing beside the road, followed Holmes.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Between 1930 and 1990, the grazed area of the Kgalagadi district in the southern Kalahari increased from 5,019 square miles to 12,355 square miles, and the number of boreholes increased from eight in 1955 to more than 380 in 1990.

(Sleeping sands of the Kalahari awaken after more than 10,000 years, NSF)

At the time of the 1997 flyby, about 124 miles (200 kilometers) above Europa's surface, the Galileo team didn't suspect the spacecraft might be grazing a plume erupting from the icy moon.

(Old Data Reveal New Evidence of Europa Plumes, NASA)

A deep canyon informally named Argo Chasma is seen grazing the limb.

(A ‘Super Grand Canyon’ on Pluto’s Moon Charon, NASA)