rasp
/ɹæsp/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.40 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A coarse file or filelike tool, 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.
noun
A group of guinea fowl
Example Sentences
- "the rasp of her perpetual cough"
- "A rasp of guinea fowl honked as 'Emma' the ostrich pecked."
- "There was a flock - no, a rasp of guinea-fowl feeding in a garden not twenty yards away."
- "The rasp of guinea fowl came from a Swiss breeder."
- "“No. I am going to feed you to the children,” rasped Burt, his laugh rattling around his throat, prising Dad’s fingers one by one off his apron."
- "to rasp wood to make it smooth"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreb /*(s)krebʰ- Proto-Germanic *hrepsaną /*hrepspaną Proto-Germanic *hrespaną Proto-Germanic *hraspōną Frankish *hraspōnbor. Vulgar Latin *raspāre Old French rasperbor. Middle English raspen English rasp Inherited from Middle English raspen (“to scratch, scrape”), borrowed from Old French rasper (“to grate, scratch”), from Vulgar Latin *raspāre (“to scrape; to scratch”), borrowed from Frankish *hraspōn (“to rasp or grate”), from Proto-Germanic *hraspōną (same meaning, plus “to steal”), from *hrespaną (“to tear, rip; to plunder”). Compare Old High German raspōn (“to gather, rake”), Old English ġehrespan (“to plunder”). The noun is from Middle French raspe (whence Modern French râpe), deverbal of rasper, from Old French rasper (see above).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɹæsp/
- British English: /ɹɑːsp/