Rasp
Rasp (rȧsp) , transitive verb
[Old French rasper, French râper, to scrape, grate, rasp, from Old High German raspōn to scrape together, to collect, probably akin to English rap. Compare Rap to snatch.]
1.
To rub or file with a rasp; to rub or grate with a rough file; as, to rasp wood to make it smooth; to rasp bones to powder.
2.
Hence, figuratively: To grate harshly upon; to offend by coarse or rough treatment or language; as, some sounds rasp the ear; his insults rasped my temper.
Rasp , noun
[Old English raspe, Old French raspe, French râpe. See Rasp, v.]
1.
A coarse file, on which the cutting prominences are distinct points raised by the oblique stroke of a sharp punch, instead of lines raised by a chisel, as on the true file.
2.
The raspberry. [Obsolete]
Set sorrel amongst rasps, and the rasps will be the smaller.
Collocations (1)
Rasp palm (Botany) , a Brazilian palm tree (Iriartea exorhiza) which has strong aerial roots like a screw pine. The roots have a hard, rough surface, and are used by the natives for graters and rasps, whence the common name.