Meaning & use
a grater
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A kitchen tool with a rough surface that you rub food against to cut it into small pieces.
Grammar: Countable noun: use 'a grater' for one, 'graters' for more than one.
Patterns
- a cheese grater
- grate something with a grater
She used a grater to shred the carrots for the salad.
Please pass me the grater so I can add some lemon zest.
A box grater has different sides for coarse and fine grating.
Word forms
| plural | graters |
|---|
Common combinations
- cheese grater
- He bought a new cheese grater at the supermarket.
- box grater
- A box grater is useful for grating cheese and vegetables.
- fine grater
- Use a fine grater for nutmeg.
- grater blade
- The grater blade is sharp, so be careful when washing it.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shredder
- A shredder is usually a machine for cutting paper or documents, not a kitchen tool, so it does not fit food preparation.
Word family
Commonly confused: a grater or greater?
a grater vs greater
Greater means 'larger' or 'more important', while a grater is a kitchen tool. They sound similar but have completely different meanings.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'grater' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A grater is specifically for shredding food like cheese; it does not cut cake or boil water, and it is not an oven.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a grater”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.