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sgranare

to shell

verb zgrah-NAH-reh Rare
Food & Drink Cooking

Origin: From s- (intensive/privative) + grano ('grain'), meaning to remove grains or to spread apart.

Also means

to widen (eyes)

Usage Note

Sgranare has two common senses: to shell legumes (sgranare i piselli = 'to shell peas') and to open wide in surprise — sgranare gli occhi ('to open one's eyes wide, to stare wide-eyed'). The latter is idiomatic and very common. It takes avere as auxiliary.

Examples

"Ha sgranato gli occhi per la sorpresa."

Natural Translation

She opened her eyes wide in surprise.

Literal Translation

She has wide-opened the eyes for the surprise.

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