grating

1. typically of a voiceHarsh and unpleasant.

   grating vocals

2. Annoying; tending to annoy.

plural gratings

1. A barrier that has parallel or crossed bars blocking a passage but admitting air.
2. A frame of iron bars to hold a fire.
3. The loose material that comes from something being grated.

   Add a few gratings of nutmeg to the hot milk.

4. An optical system of close equidistant and parallel lines or bars, especially lines ruled on a polished surface, used for producing spectra by diffraction.
5. in pluralnauticalThe strong wooden lattice used to cover a hatch, admitting light and air; also, a movable lattice used for the flooring of boats.
6. The sound made by something that grates against something else.

   If, with these symptoms, are heard gratings of the teeth, irregular appetite, and sudden ebullitions of temper we may reasonably conclude that parasites are irritating the intestines and should be gotten rid of.

   1901, Melville Cox Keith, Keith's Domestic Practice and Botanic Handbook

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of grate