An archaic or dialectal form meaning to grate, scrape, or rasp; possibly related to drat.
From Middle English, possibly related to Old English and German words for scraping or making harsh sounds. May be connected to 'grate' or onomatopoeic origins imitating harsh sounds.
Words like 'drate' survive in regional dialects in Britain where speakers preserve medieval pronunciations that standard English abandoned—linguists can map where people live by whether they use 'drate' or 'grate.'
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