graze
/ɡɹeɪz/noun, verb
graze is spelled G-R-A-Z-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, graze means “The act of grazing; a scratching or injuring lightly on passing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of graze is grazes.
How many letters and syllables are in graze?
| Letters | 5: G-R-A-Z-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.0 times per million words; the 28,214th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is graze?
Graze appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,214th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce graze?
- /ɡɹeɪz/
Graze has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-graze.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with graze?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as graze.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: gazer.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of graze
- grazes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- grazing participle, present
- grazed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does graze mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of grazing; a scratching or injuring lightly on passing.
- 2
A light abrasion; a slight scratch.
- 3
The act of animals feeding from pasture.
verb
- 1
To feed or supply (cattle, sheep, etc.) with grass; to furnish pasture for.
- 2
To feed on; to eat (growing herbage); to eat grass from (a pasture)
Cattle graze in the meadows.
- 3
To tend (cattle, etc.) while grazing.
- 4
To eat small amounts of food periodically throughout the day, rather than at fixed mealtimes, often not in response to hunger.
- 5
To shoplift by consuming food or drink items before reaching the checkout.
- 6
To rub or touch lightly the surface of (a thing) in passing.
the bullet grazed the wall
- 7
To cause a slight wound to; to scratch.
to graze one's knee
- 8
To yield grass for grazing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Graze in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | éraflure , faire paître , brouter, paître, pâturer |
| German | Kratzen, Schrammen, Schaben, Schleifen, Schürfen , Kratzer |
| Portuguese | arranhão, ralado, raspado , dar de pastar , pastar , arranhar |
| Spanish | rasguño, arañazo , apacentar, apastar, pacer, pastar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does graze come from?
Inherited from Middle English grasen (“to feed with grass”), from Old English grasian, from Proto-West Germanic *grasōn, from Proto-Germanic *grasōną, from *grasą (“grass”) + *-ōną (verbal suffix). Doublet of grass.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).