GRATING

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does grating mean? 

• GRATING (noun)
  The noun GRATING has 3 senses:

1. a barrier that has parallel or crossed bars blocking a passage but admitting air

2. a frame of iron bars to hold a fire

3. optical device consisting of a surface with many parallel grooves in it; disperses a beam of light (or other electromagnetic radiation) into its wavelengths to produce its spectrum

  Familiarity information: GRATING used as a noun is uncommon.

• GRATING (adjective)
  The adjective GRATING has 1 sense:

1. unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound

  Familiarity information: GRATING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GRATING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A barrier that has parallel or crossed bars blocking a passage but admitting air

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

grate; grating

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

barrier (a structure or object that impedes free movement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "grating"):

grille; radiator grille (grating that admits cooling air to car's radiator)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A frame of iron bars to hold a fire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

grate; grating

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

frame; framework (a structure supporting or containing something)

Holonyms ("grating" is a part of...):

furnace (an enclosed chamber in which heat is produced to heat buildings, destroy refuse, smelt or refine ores, etc.)

cooking stove; kitchen range; kitchen stove; range; stove (a kitchen appliance used for cooking food)

Derivation:

grate (furnish with a grate)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Optical device consisting of a surface with many parallel grooves in it; disperses a beam of light (or other electromagnetic radiation) into its wavelengths to produce its spectrum

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

diffraction grating; grating

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

optical device (a device for producing or controlling light)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "grating"):

echelon (a diffraction grating consisting of a pile of plates of equal thickness arranged stepwise with a constant offset)

• GRATING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound

Synonyms:

grating; gravelly; rasping; raspy; rough; scratchy

Context example:

a gravelly voice

Similar:

cacophonic; cacophonous (having an unpleasant sound)

 Context examples 

We both put our eyes to the grating.

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

Nor was it unwarranted: in five minutes more the grating key, the yielding lock, warned me my watch was relieved.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I am sorry to trouble you, said he, in his blandest manner, to the young woman behind the grating; there is some small mistake about a telegram I sent yesterday.

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

I plainly heard a noise upon the cover of my closet, like that of a cable, and the grating of it as it passed through the ring.

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

The emitted radiation is dispersed by a grating monochrometer and detected with photomultiplier tubes.

(Inductively-Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer, NCI Thesaurus)

A key was turned with the loud grating noise of long disuse, and the great door swung back.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The rattle and bang of the frying-pan was grating horribly on my nerves.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He shoved, and shoved hard, till the grating of the steel against the locked teeth could be distinctly heard.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The crackling turned into a snapping, the sled pivoting and the runners slipping and grating several inches to the side.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I was still turning and tossing when I heard the sound of flying hoofs coming down the London Road, and immediately afterwards the grating of wheels as they pulled up in front of the inn.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)