ROUGHEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does roughen mean? 

• ROUGHEN (verb)
  The verb ROUGHEN has 1 sense:

1. make rough or rougher

  Familiarity information: ROUGHEN used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ROUGHEN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they roughen    ... he / she / it roughens   
Past simple: roughened   
Past participle: roughened   
-ing form: roughening   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make rough or rougher

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

roughen the surfaces so they will stick to each other

Hypernyms (to "roughen" is one way to...):

change surface (undergo or cause to undergo a change in the surface)

"Roughen" entails doing...:

abrade; abrase; corrade; rub down; rub off (wear away)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

smooth (make smooth or smoother, as if by rubbing)

 Context examples 

She glanced down in surprise at her own feet, and I observed the slight roughening of the side of the sole caused by the friction of the edge of the pedal.

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

He was a tall man, over six feet high, and broad in proportion, and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Phosphoric acid is used in dentistry and orthodontics as an etching solution, to clean and roughen the surfaces of teeth where dental appliances or fillings will be placed.

(Phosphoric acid, NCI Thesaurus)

"Here is one." And taking up the hand which lay on the arm of his chair, he pointed to the roughened forefinger, a burn on the back, and two or three little hard spots on the palm.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A method of roughening the surface of a natural tooth or a dental restoration, most likely the inside of a metal crown or the facial side of a metal crown to prepare it for repair, utilizing a gas-impelled jet of a fine abrasive.

(Microetching, NCI Thesaurus)

I have an impression on my mind which I cannot distinguish from actual remembrance, of the touch of Peggotty's forefinger as she used to hold it out to me, and of its being roughened by needlework, like a pocket nutmeg-grater.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)