GRATE ON SOMEONE/SOMETHING - Cambridge English Dictionary AI Assistant Dictionary Translate Grammar Thesaurus +Plus Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games Cambridge Dictionary +Plus My profile +Plus help Log out {{userName}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus My profile +Plus help Log out Log in / Sign up English (UK) 1 ? true : false } }), searchAutoComplete.changeToLayoutContainer(); tap:AMP.setState({ stateSearch: { autocomplete: stateSearch.dataset != 'wordlists' && stateSearch.term.length 1 } })" / English 1) ? '/autocomplete/amp?dataset=' + stateSearch.dataset + '&q=' + stateSearch.term : 'https://'" 0 && stateHdr.searchDesk ? 'pa pdd chac-sb tc-bd bw hbr-20 hbss lpt-25' : 'hdn'" {{word}} {{#beta}} Beta{{/beta}} {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{^selected}} {{name}} {{/selected}} {{/preferredDictionaries}} Meaning of grate on someone/something in English grate on someone/something collocation Add to word list Add to word list If a noise or behaviour grates on you or grates on your nerves, it annoys you: After a while, her voice really started to grate on me. The continuous beep of the machine began to grate on her nerves. See grate verb More examplesFewer examples His recent comments have grated on many voters. It's having him under my feet all the time that really grates on my nerves. His monotone voice grates on the ear. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases Causing feelings of anger and displeasure aggravate aggrieve alienate anger annoy bend goat grate hack someone off phrasal verb harass hassle nark rile rub rub someone up the wrong way idiom ruffle ruffle someone's feathers idiom tit tooth troll See more results » You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics: Annoying (Definition of grate on someone/something from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)   Browse grassroots grasstree grassy grate grate on someone/something grated grated cheese grateful grateful/thankful for small mercies idiom {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}} Word of the Day comfort zone UK Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio /ˈkʌm.fət ˌzəʊn/ US Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio /ˈkʌm.fɚt ˌzoʊn/ a situation in which you feel comfortable and in which your ability and determination are not being tested About this Blog Hitting the nail on the head: idioms with ‘hit’ July 22, 2026 Read More graduation creep" layout="responsive" graduation creep" class="lc1" / New Words graduation creep July 20, 2026 More new words has been added to list To top AI Assistant Contents English AI Assistant Facebook Instagram X © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2026 Learn Learn Learn New Words Help In Print Word of the Year 2021 Word of the Year 2022 Word of the Year 2023 Word of the Year 2024 Word of the Year 2025 Develop Develop Develop Dictionary API Double-Click Lookup Search Widgets License Data About About About Accessibility Cambridge English Cambridge University Press & Assessment Consent Management Cookies and Privacy Corpus Terms of Use AI Terms of Use Facebook Instagram X © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2026 {{#displayLoginPopup}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Learn more with +Plus Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content: Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans Sign up now or Log in Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Learn more with +Plus Create word lists and quizzes for free Sign up now or Log in {{/displayLoginPopup}} {{#displayClassicSurvey}} {{/displayClassicSurvey}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus My profile +Plus help Log out AI Assistant Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Danish Danish–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Translate Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games {{userName}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus My profile +Plus help Log out Log in / Sign up English (UK)   Change English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Follow us Choose a dictionary Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}} Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation Translation Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Danish Danish–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Dictionary +Plus Word Lists Choose your language English (UK)   English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Contents English Collocation Grammar All translations My word lists To add grate on someone/something to a word list please sign up or log in. Sign up or Log in My word lists Add grate on someone/something to one of your lists below, or create a new one. {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}} {{message}} {{/message}} {{^message}} Something went wrong. {{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} 5 && !stateSidebarWordList.expended) ? 195 : (stateSidebarWordListItems.length * 39)" [src]="stateSidebarWordListItems" {{name}} 5 && !stateSidebarWordList.expended) ? 'hao hp lmt-25' : 'hdn'" More Go to your word lists {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}} {{message}} {{/message}} {{^message}} Something went wrong. {{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} Tell us about this example sentence: The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}} {{message}} {{/message}} {{^message}} There was a problem sending your report. {{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}} {{message}} {{/message}} {{^message}} There was a problem sending your report. {{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}}