v. [ad. L. abrādĕre to scrape off, f. ab off + rād-ĕre to scrape.]
1. To rub or wear off (a part from anything).
1677. Hale, Prim. Orig. Man., 95. What is successively abraded from them [mountains] by decursion of Waters.
2. To wear down by rubbing, to rub away; lit. and fig.
1748. Phil. Trans., XLV. 47. They … are capable of enlarging their room as they grow bigger, by abrading the sides of their cells.
1804. W. Taylor, in Ann. Rev., II. 336. A hackneyed clamouring for religion and order will not abrade the popularity … of a French government.
1856. Kane, Arctic Explor., II. i. 11. To dogs famishing … frozen food often proves fatal, abrading the stomach and œsophagus.
1863. Lyell, Antiq. of Man, xv. 293. Stones which lie underneath the glaciers … abrade, groove, and polish the rock.
