RASP Synonyms: 168 Similar and Opposite Words

rasp 1 of 2

noun

Definition of rasp

as in scratch

a harsh grating sound the rusted lock opened with a rasp

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rasp

2 of 2

verb

ˈrasp

as in to rub

to make smooth by friction after sawing the board in half, rasp the ends to remove any splinters

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to scratch

to pass roughly and noisily over or against a surface the sound of fingernails rasping on the blackboard makes me cringe

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to annoy

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to wear

to damage or diminish by continued friction during the last ice age, glaciers rasped the surface, leaving the deeply scarred rock

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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 rasp

Noun

Like Dijon, svn4vr uses a dexterous, soulful rasp to fight for emotional truth from within songs that occupy shifting senses of space and bear the seams of digital assembly. — H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 9 Apr. 2026 Deep and smoky with impressive control and just a touch of Etta James rasp, Spiro’s is a voice not so much influenced by jazz legends like Winehouse or Nina Simone but rather a direct descendant. — Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 11 Mar. 2026

Verb

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 See All Example Sentences for rasp

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rasp

Noun

Yes, because it’s made of durable Gorilla Glass to prevent scuffs and scratches.

— Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 8 Oct. 2026
And perhaps most importantly — why do longevity clinics include scratch-and-sniff smell tests as part of their treatments?

— Amanda Erickson, STAT, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of scratch

Verb

Pamir, which uses machine learning to scrape, parse and categorize vast amounts of unstructured video, image and social media data for its SaaS database, offers another tool.

— Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 7 Oct. 2026
To get the tortoise’s DNA material, Jonathan’s veterinarian Joe Hollins pretended to feed him, wedged his mouth open with a hard glove and scraped cells from inside his cheek.

— Jacek Krywko, Scientific American, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of scrape

Verb

What annoys me is that this whole thing is called Roaring 20th, so why was there not a flapper and Great Gatsby theme?

— Brian Moylan, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
Coach Rhett Lashlee was already annoyed with special teams coming into the game, and that was before the Mustangs botched two PAT attempts.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of annoy

Verb

The Cornell 7 lawsuit refers to the legal document filed by an unnamed Cornell University student who accused seven men of raping and drugging her at a frat house party in October 2024 — and faced no legal consequences.

— Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026
Dozens of similar lawsuits have been filed on whether cities can sue oil and gas companies over damage linked to global warming.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of file

Verb

And as the team moved into the couple’s guest house on their San Diego rental property, the filmmakers feared that the home was bugged and ordered a device to try to de-bug it, without success.

— Kirsten Chuba, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026
As a Bears fan, McDermott doesn’t want to disrupt the team and bug McCaskey or Warren too much.

— Ryan Canfield OutKick, FOXNews.com, 20 Sep. 2026