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abrasive

adjective

  1. wear off or rub off
L29420 on Wikidata ↗

noun

  1. rough material used to shape objects by friction
L315941 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /əˈbɹeɪ.sɪv/ / /əˈbɹeɪ.zɪv/

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree Medieval Latin abrāsīvusbor. English abrasive Borrowed from Medieval Latin abrāsīvus.

  1. Producing abrasion; rough enough to wear away the outer surface.
  2. Being rough and coarse in manner or disposition; overly aggressive and causing irritation.

    An abrasive person can grate on one's sensibilities.

    Despite her proper upbringing, we found her manners to be terribly abrasive.

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Medieval Latin abrāsīvusbor. English abrasive Borrowed from Medieval Latin abrāsīvus.

  1. A hard inorganic substance or material consisting in powder or granule form such as sandpaper, pumice, or emery, used for cleaning, smoothing, or polishing.
  2. Rock fragments, sand grains, mineral particles, used by water, wind, and ice to abrade a land surface.