Phrase guide

grind one's gears

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

verb

Meaning 1

To annoy or irritate one.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, informal

Examples

  • It really grinds my gears when inconsiderate people litter.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: chap someone's hide, get someone's goat, aggravate, annoy, nettle, rankle, ruffle, sting, antagonize, bother, disgruntle, botherate, bug, get, grate, burn up, bedevil, cheese off, devil, exasperate, frustrate, get up, grotch, hack off, hassle, irk, irritate, jazz, molest, mommick, nark, nerve, pee off, peeve, peeve off, persecute, pique, piss off, provoke, rile, rile up, roil, storm, test someone's patience, tick off, trouble, try one's patience, vex, wind up, Idioms:, boil someone's piss, get on someone's nerves, get on someone's tits, get on someone's wick, get someone's back up, get someone's dander up, get someone's Irish up, get someone's nanny, get someone's nanny-goat, get under one's goat, get under someone's skin, give someone the shits, grind one's gears, harsh one's mellow, put someone's back up, raise someone's hackles, rub someone the wrong way, rub up the wrong way, ruffle someone's feathers, tee off, torque off

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

As an analogy to a state in a multispeed internal combustion engine in which improperly synchronized inputs and outputs in the transmission during a gear shift (as by driver error or a mechanical fault) lead to literal grinding of gears against each other as they're forced to mesh at different speeds from one another. The noise produced is harsh and grating, and damage to the transmission can accumulate with repeated occurrences.