# grate

/ˈɡɹeɪt/ (US) · /ɡɹˈeɪt/ (UK) · CEFR B2 · Verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/grate
Updated: 2026-05-08

## Definition

to rub food against a metal tool with sharp holes to cut it into very small pieces. You usually do this with cheese or vegetables like carrots.

For teachers: to reduce food to small shreds or fragments by rubbing it against a serrated surface.

## Examples

- Please grate some cheese for the pasta.
- The recipe says to grate the ginger finely before adding it to the hot oil for the best flavor.
- While some chefs prefer to grate the zest directly into the batter, others recommend collecting it separately to ensure no bitter white pith is included in the mixture.

## Pitfalls

- Not "I used a grater for grate the cheese" but "I used a grater to grate the cheese" — Learners often confuse the preposition 'for' with the infinitive 'to' when expressing the purpose of a tool.

## Usage notes

- The verb is transitive and typically takes a food item as its direct object.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.