You don't hear from Colin Powell some of the things that you hear from say Richard Pearle who's not actually a member of the administration, but you can hardly turn on a radio or television programme without hearing the ubiquitous Mr Pearle, and there are probably European voices which grate on American ears.

BBC: Breakfast with Frost

Such ideas do not grate only on liberals.

ECONOMIST: Lexington

He'd be squeezed against scores of other swine, hoofing a steel grate floor, while growing fatter and fatter on a factory farm.

WSJ: An Economy Caught in a Web

You don't have to get on your hands and knees and clean out the grate.

WSJ: The Weekend Interview with Julian Fellowes: The Anti-Snobbery of 'Downton Abbey'

As such, the very idea of empire grates on his ears in a way it does not grate mine.

FORBES: Soros On The New German Empire

The ideas may be fresh, but both pubs have retained their rustic character: flagstones on the floor, rough beams, a crackling fire in the grate and, most importantly of all, a passionately loyal local clientele.

BBC: The perfect trip: The Lake District