Meanings
plural abraders
- Something that abrades; a tool or machine for abrading.First known use mid-19th c.
In the fabric section, a textile twisting and tearing machine and a "Lissajou curve" [sic] abrader (covering a complete area in overlapping curves) are supplemented by apparatus for evaluating waterproofness, fibre diameter and light-fastness.
1961 February, “Talking of Trains: New L.T. research laboratory”, in Trains Illustrated, page 772 more examples
1856, H. A. Dewar, Actuating Mechanism for Rotating Tools, Patent dated 1 March, 1856, in The Practical Mechanic’s Journal, Volume I, p. 232, […] provision is made for the attachment thereto of various operating tools, such, for example, as drills, saws, grindstones, polishers, and cutters, or abraders or shapers of various kinds.
2012, G. Domokos and G. W. Gibbons, “The evolution of pebble size and shape in space and time,” arXiv:1109.5707 [physics.geo-ph], p. 2, The physical assumption underlying Firey’s model is that the abraded particle (pebble) undergoes a series of small collisions with a very large, smooth abrader, and this might be the case when pebbles are carried by a fast river and collied repeatedly with the riverbed […]
- archaeologyA primitive artifact made of sandstone used for smoothing, sharpening, or shaping.
1993, Nan McNutt and Marilyn Jesmain, Passages: An Archaeology Timeline of Southeast Alaska, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Alaska Region, 5,000 years ago the people of Southeast Alaska began grinding bone on a sandy stone called an abrader to form the desired shape and sharpness.
- medicineA surgical instrument used to abrade bone or other tissue.
a cartilage abrader; a corneal abrader
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Dutch schuurmachine, schuurwerktuig
- schuurmachinetool or machine for abrading
- schuurwerktuigtool or machine for abrading
Portuguese abrasor
- abrasortool or machine for abrading
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
abrader. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abrader
“abrader.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abrader. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “abrader,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abrader.
Source: abrader on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.