Adjacent Words

Shave definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SHAVE, v.t. pret. shaved; pp. shaved or shaven.
1. To cut or pare off something from the surface of the body by a razor or other edged instrument, by rubbing, scraping or drawing the instrument along the surface; as, tto shave the chin and cheeks; to shave the head of its hair.
He shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. Numbers 6.
2. To shave off, to cut off.
Neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard. Leviticus 21.
3. To pare close.
The bending sythe
Shaves all the surface of the waving green. Gay.
4. To cut off thin slices; or tho cut in thin slices.
5. To skim along the surface near it; to sweep along.
He shaves with level wing the deep. Milton.
6. To strip; to oppress by extortion; to fleece.
7. To make smooth by paring or cutting off slices; as, to shave hoops or staves.
To shave a note. to purchase it at a great discount, a discount much beyong the legal rate of interest. [A low phrase.]
SHAVE, n. An instrument with a long blade and a handle at each end for shaving hoops, etc.; called also a drawing knife.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of removing hair with a razor [syn: shave, shaving] v
1: remove body hair with a razor
2: cut closely; "trim my beard" [syn: shave, trim]
3: cut the price of [syn: shave, knock off]
4: cut or remove with or as if with a plane; "The machine shaved off fine layers from the piece of wood" [syn: plane, shave]
5: make shavings of or reduce to shavings; "shave the radish"
6: touch the surface of lightly; "His back shaved the counter in passing"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (shaved; shaved or shaven; shaving) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English scafan; akin to Lithuanian skobti to pluck, Latin scabere to scratch, and perhaps to Greek koptein to cut — more at capon Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. a. to remove a thin layer from b. to cut off in thin layers or shreds ; slice c. to cut off closely 2. a. to sever the hair from (the head or another part of the body) close to the roots b. to cut off (hair or beard) close to the skin 3. a. to discount (a note) at an exorbitant rate b. deduct, reduce c. to conspire to score fewer (points) than one is capable of (as to affect gambling outcomes) 4. to come close to or touch lightly in passing intransitive verb 1. to cut off hair or beard close to the skin 2. to proceed with difficulty ; scrape II. noun Date: before 12th century 1. shaver 3 2. a thin slice ; shaving 3. an act or the process of shaving

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. (past part. shaved or (as adj.) shaven) 1 remove (bristles or hair) from the face etc. with a razor. 2 (also absol.) remove bristles or hair with a razor from the face etc. of (a person) or (a part of the body). 3 a reduce by a small amount. b take (a small amount) away from. 4 cut thin slices from the surface of (wood etc.) to shape it. 5 pass close to without touching; miss narrowly. --n. 1 an act of shaving or the process of being shaved. 2 a close approach without contact. 3 a narrow miss or escape; = close shave (see CLOSE(1)). 4 a tool for shaving wood etc. Etymology: OE sc(e)afan (sense 4 of noun f. OE sceafa) f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shave Shave, v. i. To use a razor for removing the beard; to cut closely; hence, to be hard and severe in a bargain; to practice extortion; to cheat.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shave Shave, obs. p. p. of Shave. --Chaucer. His beard was shave as nigh as ever he can. --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shave Shave, v. t. [imp. Shaved;p. p. Shaved or Shaven; p. pr. & vb. n. Shaving.] [OE. shaven, schaven, AS. scafan, sceafan; akin to D. schaven, G. schaben, Icel. skafa, Sw. skafva, Dan. skave, Goth. scaban, Russ. kopate to dig, Gr. ????, and probably to L. scabere to scratch, to scrape. Cf. Scab, Shaft, Shape.] 1. To cut or pare off from the surface of a body with a razor or other edged instrument; to cut off closely, as with a razor; as, to shave the beard. 2. To make bare or smooth by cutting off closely the surface, or surface covering, of; especially, to remove the hair from with a razor or other sharp instrument; to take off the beard or hair of; as, to shave the face or the crown of the head; he shaved himself. I'll shave your crown for this. --Shak. The laborer with the bending scythe is seen Shaving the surface of the waving green. --Gay. 3. To cut off thin slices from; to cut in thin slices. Plants bruised or shaven in leaf or root. --Bacon. 4. To skim along or near the surface of; to pass close to, or touch lightly, in passing. Now shaves with level wing the deep. --Milton. 5. To strip; to plunder; to fleece. [Colloq.] To shave a note, to buy it at a discount greater than the legal rate of interest, or to deduct in discounting it more than the legal rate allows. [Cant, U.S.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shave Shave, n. [AS. scafa, sceafa, a sort of knife. See Shave, v. t.] 1. A thin slice; a shaving. --Wright. 2. A cutting of the beard; the operation of shaving. 3. (a) An exorbitant discount on a note. [Cant, U.S.] (b) A premium paid for an extension of the time of delivery or payment, or for the right to vary a stock contract in any particular. [Cant, U.S.] --N. Biddle. 4. A hand tool consisting of a sharp blade with a handle at each end; a drawing knife; a spokeshave. 5. The act of passing very near to, so as almost to graze; as, the bullet missed by a close shave. [Colloq.] Shave grass (Bot.), the scouring rush. See the Note under Equisetum. Shave hook, a tool for scraping metals, consisting of a sharp-edged triangular steel plate attached to a shank and handle.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(shaves, shaving, shaved) 1. When a man shaves, he removes the hair from his face using a razor or shaver so that his face is smooth. He took a bath and shaved before dinner... He had shaved his face until it was smooth... It's a pity you shaved your moustache off. VERB: V, V n, V n with off • Shave is also a noun. He never seemed to need a shave. N-COUNT • shaving ...a range of shaving products. 2. If someone shaves a part of their body, they remove the hair from it so that it is smooth. Many women shave their legs... If you have long curly hair, don't shave it off. VERB: V n, V n with off 3. If you shave someone, you remove the hair from their face or another part of their body so that it is smooth. The doctors shaved his head... She had to call a barber to shave him. VERB: V n, V n 4. If you shave off part of a piece of wood or other material, you cut very thin pieces from it. I set the log on the ground and shaved off the bark... She was shaving thin slices off a courgette. VERB: V n with off, V n off n 5. If you shave a small amount off something such as a record, cost, or price, you reduce it by that amount. She's already shaved four seconds off the national record for the mile... Supermarket chains have shaved prices. VERB: V n off/from n, V n 6. see also shaving 7. If you describe a situation as a close shave, you mean that there was nearly an accident or a disaster but it was avoided. I can't quite believe the close shaves I've had just recently. PHRASE: N inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Cut off (close to the surface). 2. Make smooth or bare (as by cutting off hair closely), to pare close. 3. Slice, cut in thin slices. 4. Strip, fleece, pillage, shear, oppress (by extortion). 5. Graze, skim, touch lightly (in passing over).

Moby Thesaurus

abate, abbreviate, abrade, abridge, abscind, abstract, amputate, annihilate, ban, bar, bate, beat, beat down, beguile of, bilk, bob, boil down, borrow, break, brush, brush by, bunco, burn, capsulize, caress, cheapen, cheat, chisel, chouse, chouse out of, clip, close shave, cog, cog the dice, come in contact, compress, con, condense, contact, contract, cozen, crib, crop, cull, curtail, cut, cut away, cut back, cut down, cut off, cut off short, cut out, cut prices, cut short, dab, decline, decrease, deduct, deflate, defraud, depreciate, derogate, detract, devaluate, diddle, diminish, discount, discount notes, disparage, dive, do in, do out of, dock, drag, drain, dress, dub, eat away, elide, eliminate, enucleate, epitomize, equalize, eradicate, erode, euchre, even, except, excise, exclude, extinguish, extirpate, extract, fall, fall in price, file away, finagle, flam, flatten, fleece, flimflam, fob, foreshorten, fudge, give way, glance, gouge, grade, graze, grease, gull, gyp, harrow, have, hit, hocus, hocus-pocus, impair, impinge, isolate, jew down, kiss, knock off, lay, leach, lend, lessen, level, lop, lower, lubricate, mark down, mow, mulct, mutilate, narrow escape, narrow squeak, nip, nose-dive, nudge, oil, osculate, pack the deal, pare, peel, pick out, pigeon, plane, planish, plaster, plummet, plunge, poll, pollard, practice fraud upon, prune, purify, reap, recap, recapitulate, reduce, refine, remove, retrench, rook, root out, rub, rub away, rule out, sag, scam, scrape, screw, sell gold bricks, set apart, set aside, shear, shingle, shortchange, shorten, shred, sideswipe, skim, skirt, skive, slash, slump, smooth, smooth down, smooth out, snub, squeak by, stack the cards, stamp out, stick, sting, strike off, strip, strip off, stunt, subduct, subtract, sum up, summarize, swindle, synopsize, take a dive, take away, take from, take in, take off, take out, telescope, thimblerig, thin, thin out, throw a fight, touch, trim, truncate, victimize, wear away, weed, whittle, wipe out, withdraw