Meaning & use
grazing
Last updated
“grazing” is a form of “graze”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitive
Eating grass or other low plants that grow in a field.
Grammar: No object; used for animals: cows were grazing in the meadow.
Patterns
- grazing on something
- grazing in something
Sheep were grazing on the hillside.
A herd of deer was grazing at the edge of the woods.
The horses spent the morning grazing in the paddock.
verbintransitiveinformal
Eating small amounts of food throughout the day instead of formal meals.
Grammar: No object; often followed by on: grazing on snacks.
Patterns
- grazing on something
I've been grazing on crackers all afternoon.
Guests were grazing at the buffet between conversations.
He's not hungry for dinner because he was grazing all day.
verbtransitive
Touching something lightly in passing, or scraping the skin slightly.
Grammar: Takes an object: the ball grazing the post.
Patterns
- grazing something
The bullet missed him, only grazing his sleeve.
Her knee was grazing the edge of the table.
He fell and ended up grazing his elbow on the pavement.
Word forms
| base form | graze |
|---|---|
| third person singular | grazes |
| past tense | grazed |
| past participle | grazed |
Common combinations
- grazing land
- The valley has plenty of good grazing land.
- grazing cattle
- We passed fields of grazing cattle.
- grazing rights
- The farmers argued over grazing rights.
- grazing on snacks
- The kids were grazing on snacks during the movie.
- graze a knee
- He fell off his bike and grazed his knee.
Synonyms and how they differ
- browsing
- Browsing means eating leaves and shoots from bushes, while grazing is for grass.
- feeding
- Feeding is general for any eating, whereas grazing suggests animals on grass.
- snacking
- Snacking is the plain word for eating small amounts; grazing adds the idea of doing it constantly.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: grazing or gazing?
grazing vs gazing
Gazing means looking steadily, so it only looks like grazing.
Practice
The farmer let the cows spend the summer ___ in the upper meadow.
Choose one answer.
Grazing means feeding on grass, which suits cows in a meadow. Gazing looks similar but means looking steadily.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “grazing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.