Razor

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: ra=zor

CIDE DICTIONARY

Razor, n. [OE. rasour, OF. rasur, LL. rasor: cf. F. rasoir, LL. rasorium. See Raze, v. t., Rase, v. t.].

•  A keen-edged knife of peculiar shape, used in shaving the hair from the face or the head; also called a straight razor.  Ezek. v. 1.  [1913 Webster]
•  a device used for shaving, having a replaceable blade with a very sharp edge; also called safety razor. Also a similar device, made of plastic, in which the blade is neither replaceable nor can be sharpened, intended to be discarded after the blade dulls -- called a disposable razor.  [PJC]
•  A tusk of a wild boar.  [1913 Webster]

Razor fish. (Zoöl.) (a) A small Mediterranean fish (Coryphæna novacula), prized for the table. (b) The razor shell. -- Razor grass (Bot.), a West Indian plant (Scleria scindens), the triangular stem and the leaves of which are edged with minute sharp teeth. -- Razor grinder (Zoöl.), the European goat-sucker. -- Razor shell (Zoöl.), any marine bivalve shell belonging to Solen and allied genera, especially Solen ensis (or Ensatella ensis), and Solen Americana, which have a long, narrow, somewhat curved shell, resembling a razor handle in shape. Called also razor clam, razor fish, knife handle. -- Razor stone. Same as Novaculite. -- Razor strap, or razor strop, a strap or strop used in sharpening razors.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Razor, n. & v.
--n. an instrument with a sharp blade used in cutting hair esp. from the skin.
--v.tr.
1 use a razor on.
2 shave; cut down close.

Idiom

razor-back an animal with a sharp ridged back, esp. a rorqual. razor-bill an auk, Alca torda, with a sharp-edged bill. razor-blade a blade used in a razor, esp. a flat piece of metal with a sharp edge or edges used in a safety razor. razor-cut a haircut made with a razor. razor- (or razor's) edge
1 a keen edge.
2 a sharp mountain-ridge.
3 a critical situation (found themselves on a razor-edge).
4 a sharp line of division. razor-fish (or -shell) any of various bivalve molluscs of the family Solenidae, with a shell like the handle of a cutthroat razor.

Etymology

ME f. OF rasor (as RAZE)

DEVIL DICTIONARY

Razor

n. An instrument used by the Caucasian to enhance his beauty, by the Mongolian to make a guy of himself, and by the Afro-American to affirm his worth.

ROGET THESAURUS

Razor

Sharpness

N sharpness, acuity, acumination, spinosity, point, spike, spine, spicule, spiculum, needle, hypodermic needle, tack, nail, pin, prick, prickle, spur, rowel, barb, spit, cusp, horn, antler, snag, tag thorn, bristle, Adam's needle, bear grass, tine, yucca, nib, tooth, tusk, spoke, cog, ratchet, crag, crest, arete, cone peak, sugar loaf, pike, aiguille, spire, pyramid, steeple, beard, chevaux de frise, porcupine, hedgehog, brier, bramble, thistle, comb, awn, beggar's lice, bur, burr, catchweed, cleavers, clivers, goose, grass, hairif, hariff, flax comb, hackle, hatchel, heckle, wedge, knife edge, cutting edge, blade, edge tool, cutlery, knife, penknife, whittle, razor, razor blade, safety razor, straight razor, electric razor, scalpel, bistoury, lancet, plowshare, coulter, colter, hatchet, ax, pickax, mattock, pick, adze, gill, billhook, cleaver, cutter, scythe, sickle, scissors, shears, pruning shears, cutters, wire cutters, nail clipper, paper cutter, sword, bodkin, belduque, bowie knife, paring knife, bushwhacker, drawing knife, drawing shave, microtome, chisel, screwdriver blade, flint blade, guillotine, sharpener, hone, strop, grindstone, whetstone, novaculite, steel, emery, sharp, keen, acute, acicular, aciform, aculeated, acuminated, pointed, tapering, conical, pyramidal, mucronate, mucronated, spindle shaped, needle shaped, spiked, spiky, ensiform, peaked, salient, cusped, cuspidate, cuspidated, cornute, cornuted, cornicultate, prickly, spiny, spinous, spicular, thorny, bristling, muricated, pectinated, studded, thistly, briary, craggy, snaggy, digitated, two-edged, fusiform, dentiform, denticulated, toothed, odontoid, starlike, stellated, stelliform, sagittate, sagittiform, arrowheaded, arrowy, barbed, spurred, acinaciform, apiculate, apiculated, aristate, awned, awny, bearded, calamiform, cone-shaped, coniform, crestate, echinate, gladiate, lanceolate, lanciform, awl, awl-shaped, lance-shaped, awl- shaped, scimitar-shaped, sword-shaped, setarious, spinuliferous, subulate, tetrahedral, xiphoid, cutting, sharp edged, knife edged, sharp as a razor, keen as a razor, sharp as a needle, sharp as a tack, sharpened, set.