abrasive
/əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/ adjective, noun
Forms abrasives
- adjective Producing abrasion; rough enough to wear away the outer surface.
- adjective Being rough and coarse in manner or disposition; overly aggressive and causing irritation. “An abrasive person can grate on one's sensibilities.”
- noun A hard inorganic substance or material consisting in powder or granule form such as sandpaper, pumice, or emery, used for cleaning, smoothing, or polishing.
- noun (geology) Rock fragments, sand grains, mineral particles, used by water, wind, and ice to abrade a land surface.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin abrāsīvus.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “abrasive”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details