graze
B2Neutral to Informal; the 'injury' sense is common in everyday conversation.
Definition
Meaning
To eat growing grass or vegetation (animals); to touch or scrape lightly against a surface.
Can describe continuous, light feeding on small amounts, both literally (cattle) and figuratively (snacking or browsing information). Also means a minor skin abrasion.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
The two primary meanings (eating grass & scraping) have distinct etymological origins (Old English 'græsian' vs. unknown/possibly related to 'graze' as 'to touch lightly'), making them homographs. Context is crucial for disambiguation.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in core meaning. The injury sense ('I got a graze on my knee') is slightly more common in UK English; US English might also use 'scrape' or 'abrasion'.
Connotations
Equally neutral for the animal feeding sense. The injury sense is perceived as minor and casual in both dialects.
Frequency
Comparatively frequent in both; the 'light touch' sense (e.g., 'the bullet grazed his arm') is found in similar contexts.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[Subject] grazes [on Object] (The cows graze on the hill).[Subject] grazes [Object] (The bullet grazed his shoulder).[Subject] is grazing (intransitive).Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “Graze the surface (to treat a topic superficially).”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Rare. Possibly in agriculture ('land used for grazing') or metaphorically ('grazing on market data').
Academic
Used in agricultural, environmental, and biological sciences ('grazing pressure', 'grazing mammals'). The injury sense appears in medical literature.
Everyday
Very common for minor injuries ('I grazed my elbow') and seeing animals in fields.
Technical
Precise in agriculture/ecology (e.g., 'rotational grazing', 'grazing incidence' in physics/optics).
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The sheep were quietly grazing the lower meadow.
- Mind you don't graze the car on that stone wall!
- He fell off his bike and grazed his hands quite badly.
American English
- The cattle graze on the open range all summer.
- The projectile just grazed the side of the building.
- I slipped on the pavement and grazed my knee.
adverb
British English
- N/A (No standard adverbial form of 'graze').
American English
- N/A (No standard adverbial form of 'graze').
adjective
British English
- Grazing land is often protected for conservation.
- The farmer assessed the grazing livestock.
American English
- The region has vast grazing areas for bison.
- They studied the effects of grazing animals on the prairie.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- The cows graze in the green field.
- The child has a graze on her knee.
- Deer often come to graze in our garden at dusk.
- I just grazed the door frame with my suitcase—no damage done.
- The government introduced policies to manage grazing rights on common land.
- The surgeon noted the bullet had grazed the artery but not severed it.
- Modern consumers tend to graze on small meals throughout the day rather than eating three large ones.
- His critique only grazed the surface of the systemic corruption within the institution.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Cows in a DAZE eat GRASS while they GRAZE. If you fall on the PAVEMENT, you might get a GRAZE.
Conceptual Metaphor
CONSUMPTION IS GRAZING (e.g., 'grazing on snacks', 'grazing the news'), SUPERFICIAL CONTACT IS GRAZING (e.g., 'grazing the truth').
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'пасти' (to herd) – 'graze' is what the animal does, not the shepherd. The injury 'graze' is best translated as 'ссадина' or 'содранная кожа', not a deep cut ('порез').
Common Mistakes
- Using 'graze' to mean a deep cut or wound. Incorrectly using it transitively for the animal sense (e.g., 'He grazes the cows' is less common; prefer 'The cows graze' or 'He puts the cows out to graze').
Practice
Quiz
In which sentence is 'graze' used to mean a minor injury?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, informally. It means to eat small amounts of food frequently throughout the day, rather than at set meal times (e.g., 'She grazed on nuts and fruit all afternoon').
A graze (or abrasion) is a superficial wound where the top layer of skin is scraped off. A cut (or laceration) is a break in the skin caused by a sharp object, which is typically deeper and may bleed more.
Yes. The two main noun meanings correspond to the verb: 1) The act of animals feeding on grass ('the right of graze'), and 2) a superficial wound ('a knee graze').
Primarily, animals graze (intransitive). You can put animals out to graze or let them graze. Using 'graze' transitively (e.g., 'The farmer grazes his sheep on the hill') is correct but less frequent than the intransitive use by the animals themselves.