rasping 1 of 2

adjective

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

rasping

2 of 2

verb

present participle of rasp
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
as in scratching
to pass roughly and noisily over or against a surface the sound of fingernails rasping on the blackboard makes me cringe

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rasping
Verb
Stach’s rasping effort, 30 yards from goal, wide left, beat the Belgian at his near post to steal the match for Leeds. — Beren Cross, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026 Yet Karter is utterly at ease behind the mic, rasping through a wistful melody with an unlit cigarette between her fingers, a black motorcycle jacket slipping off one shoulder. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 6 July 2026 Koulibaly misjudged a clearance and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was unable to keep out substitute Marcus Pedersen’s rasping shot to give Norway the lead close to halftime. — Monica Alba, NBC news, 24 June 2026 The voice was faint and rasping, like the sound of pebbles raked by a wave. — Maggie O’Farrell, Literary Hub, 2 June 2026 When the beetle takes flight, the woman, who is busy unpacking, doesn’t realize for a moment that there’s something out of place about that rasping ruckus, that foreign hum. — María Ospina, The Dial, 31 Mar. 2026 Thrips have rasping, sucking mouthparts. — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 3 Mar. 2026 Negron, in particular, completely throws himself into it, rasping and howling and wailing out ad-libs. — Paul Grein, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rasping
  1. hoarse
  2. rubbing
  3. scratching
  4. annoying
  5. eroding
  6. gruff
  7. grinding
  8. scraping
Adjective
  • Now life was like that; some days fine and firm and full of whatever, while other days the hoarse bark of the neighbors’ dog or a friend’s grim diagnosis and her body succumbed to an emotional gravity that pulled her into a free fall.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Singers didn’t want their voices to get hoarse over the long night or week.
    — Vinod Sreeharsha, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of hoarse
Verb
  • Oh, and a pad from an HTC Vive, because nobody wants the sharp edges of layered plastic extruded from a 3D printer rubbing against their face.
    — Tim Stevens, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Some of the more envelope-pushing moments, including an extended scene of nuns ripping off their habits and rubbing themselves on a life-sized crucifix, were in the script.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of rubbing
Verb
  • Lee is forever grunting and scratching and clearing his throat.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2026
  • People are advised to watch for signs of rodent activity including droppings, gnaw marks, scratching or scurrying sounds and rub marks along baseboards or around entry points.
    — Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado Updated October 21, Sacbee.com, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of scratching
Verb
  • That unexpected fandom has grown over the past two years, with unlikely converts taking to the internet’s alleyways to spread the good word—and, in the process, annoying the doubters.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Kids in all three countries loved learning dances from TikTok and annoying their siblings.
    — Ryan Lenora Brown, Christian Science Monitor, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of annoying
Verb
  • Over the same time, shooting of Americans by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers began to dominate headlines, eroding support for one of the president's major policy initiatives.
    — Steve Liesman, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2026
  • This stuck ice preserves what’s beneath instead of eroding it.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of eroding
Adjective
  • Defying the old-school stereotype of the hard-nosed, gruff newspaper boss, Vaughn often mentored young reporters in a serious but friendly and encouraging manner.
    — Martin E. Comas, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Over three decades in stand-up comedy, Bill Burr has gained a reputation for saying, with gruff conviction and political fire, the thing on everyone’s mind.
    — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of gruff
Verb
  • For decades, junior accountants learned their trade by reconciling accounts, manually entering data, and grinding through the month-end close.
    — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
  • This innovation—the mass manufacture of ammonia, vastly more efficient than scraping guano off remote islands or grinding mountains of bison bones—removed the most critical nutrient bottleneck in global agriculture.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of grinding
Verb
  • Startup Hamlet has parsed tens of thousands of city council meetings by scraping local governments’ video recordings, tagging comments as friendly or hostile to a potential project.
    — J.D. Capelouto, semafor.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Writers can upload a script and receive back a copy that is resistant to AI analysis, scraping and training.
    — Katie Campione, Deadline, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of scraping

Browse Nearby Words

rasped
rasping
rasps
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Rasping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rasping. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All