graze

/ɡreɪz/

verb

  1. (of animals) to eat grass or other plants growing in a field

    A2

    intransitive; often + on

    • "The cows are grazing in the field."A2
    • "Sheep graze on the hillside all summer."B1

  2. to scrape or lightly touch something, often causing a small injury

    B1

    transitive or intransitive

    • "He grazed his knee when he fell."A2
    • "The car grazed the wall as it turned."B1
    • "The bullet grazed his shoulder, but he was not seriously hurt."C1

  3. to eat small amounts of food often, instead of having regular meals

    B2

    intransitiveinformal

    • "We grazed on snacks all afternoon."B1
    • "Instead of a big lunch, she grazed at her desk."B2

noun

  1. a small injury where the skin has been scraped

    B1

    countableespecially UK

    • "She has a graze on her elbow."B1
    • "She cleaned the graze and covered it with a plaster."B1

Collocations

graze on grassgraze in a fieldgraze your kneesuffer a grazegraze against a wall

Word family

grazinggrazerovergraze