graze

Etymology

From Old English grasian (“to feed on grass”), from græs (“grass”).

noun

1. The act of grazing; a scratching or injuring lightly on passing.
2. A light abrasion; a slight scratch.
3. The act of animals feeding from pasture.
   If it be sundown, when the herds are returning from their daily graze in the long grass of the jungle, clouds of dust will be marking their track along every approach to the village […] 1904, Empire Review, volume 6, page 188

verb

1. (transitive) To feed or supply (cattle, sheep, etc.) with grass; to furnish pasture for.
   Although it is perfectly good meadowland, none of the villagers has ever grazed animals on the meadow on the other side of the wall. 1999, Neil Gaiman, Stardust
2. (transitive, intransitive) To feed on; to eat (growing herbage); to eat grass from (a pasture)
   Cattle graze in the meadows.
   The bird [Canada goose] is more often found on land than other waterfowl because of its love for seeds and grains. The long neck is well adapted for grazing. 1993, John Montroll, Origami Inside-Out, page 41
3. (transitive) To tend (cattle, etc.) while grazing.
4. (intransitive) To eat small amounts of food periodically throughout the day, rather than at fixed mealtimes, often not in response to hunger.
   Coordinate term: snack
   Furthermore, people who take the time to sit down to proper meals find their food more satisfying than people who graze throughout the day. If you skip meals, you will inevitably end up snacking on more high-fat high-sugar foods. 2008, Mohgah Elsheikh, Caroline Murphy, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
   Many people, however, snack and graze from roughly the time they wake up until shortly before they go to bed. 24 July 2018, Anahad O’Connor, “When We Eat, or Don’t Eat, May Be Critical for Health”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
5. To shoplift by consuming food or drink items before reaching the checkout.
   Grazing refers to customers who consume food items before paying for them, for example, a customer bags one and a half pounds of grapes in the produce department, eats some as she continues her shopping […] 1992, Shoplifting, page 18
   Had the Grievant attempted to pay for the Mylanta or actually paid for it, then she would not be guilty of grazing or shoplifting. 2001, Labor Arbitration Information System, volume 2, page 59
6. (transitive) To rub or touch lightly the surface of (a thing) in passing.
   the bullet grazed the wall
7. (transitive) To cause a slight wound to; to scratch.
   to graze one's knee
8. (intransitive) To yield grass for grazing.