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What's an adjective that describes cutting mats that also have grids drawn on them, and specifically distinguishes them from cutting mats that don't have grids on them?

I guess if there's no cutting-mat-specific word, the word that means "this device has gradations marked on it" (that could also describe rulers, measuring cylinders) would also work.

That is a ____ cutting mat

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  • This thing we call a cutting mat has measurements on it — that’s the nature of it. You would need an adjective to describe one that didn’t: cheap, defective... Are you thinking of a cutting board — a kitchen item that doesn’t have measurements on it? May 6, 2023 at 1:50
  • Have you tried looking at cutting mats online? There are various different sorts. "With gridlines" seems usual, although some have other designs and some are blank (at least on one side).
    – Stuart F
    May 6, 2023 at 10:33
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    Interesting that the sentence is almost ambiguous; I had to read it several times to distinguish it from property that cutting mats with grids has that cutting mats without grids doesn't, where one interprets cutting mats with(out) grids as gerund clauses. May 6, 2023 at 15:16

5 Answers 5

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Perhaps a little old-fashioned and/or rarefied now, the word graticulated certainly carries this sense:

graticulate [verb] (past participle graticulated)

(transitive) To divide into a grid of horizontal and vertical lines.

[Wiktionary]

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Cutting mats can be found being advertised as gridded and gridless.

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This is more general than what you're looking for, but the word ruled is close. Collins defines it as:

having straight lines drawn on

Example: a ruled grid of horizontal and vertical lines

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I like DW256's answer. However, it appears that you want a word that doesn't include "grid", so . . .

If you just want to refer to the pattern, you could call it "reticulated" or "reticulate":

resembling a net or network
especially : having veins, fibers, or lines crossing

Perhaps the most specific adjective for "this device has gradations marked on it" (that could also describe rulers, measuring cylinders) would be "graded" or "graduated"1:

marked with divisions indicating degrees or units of measurement
a graduated cylinder/tube
graduated measuring cups

That being said, I've never heard either of these terms applied to cutting mats. DW256's suggestion (or something similar) would be much more natural.


1 If it only had lines without gradations, then alphabet's suggestion of "ruled" would work better.

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That is a cutting mat with a grid

That is a gridded cutting mat

That is a cutting mat without a grid

That is a plain cutting mat.

OED

gridded, adj.

Covered with, forming, or containing a grid (in various senses).

1926 Blackwood's Mag. Dec. 774/2 A white screen, gridded and lettered, covered the wall.

plain, adj.

4.a. Unembellished, without addition or decoration;

1976 Derbyshire Times 3 Sept. (Peak ed.) 10/6 (advt.) Paving slabs... Remanufactured top quality - plain and coloured paving in a range of sizes.

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