Word Study
shave
CIDE DICTIONARY
shave, obs. p. p.
"His beard was shave as nigh as ever he can." [1913 Webster]
shave, v. t. [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. ska`ptein, and probably to L. scabere to scratch, to scrape. Cf. Scab, Shaft, Shape.].
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]"I'll shave your crown for this." [1913 Webster]"The laborer with the bending scythe is seen
Shaving the surface of the waving green." [1913 Webster] - To cut off thin slices from; to cut in thin slices. [1913 Webster]"Plants bruised or shaven in leaf or root." [1913 Webster]
- To skim along or near the surface of; to pass close to, or touch lightly, in passing. [1913 Webster]"Now shaves with level wing the deep." [1913 Webster]
- To strip; to plunder; to fleece. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
- A thin slice; a shaving. Wright. [1913 Webster]
- A cutting of the beard; the operation of shaving. [1913 Webster]
- An exorbitant discount on a note. N. Biddle. [1913 Webster]
- A hand tool consisting of a sharp blade with a handle at each end; a drawing knife; a spokeshave. [1913 Webster]
- The act of passing very near to, so as almost to graze; as, the bullet missed by a close shave. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
shave, 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.
--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
THESAURUS
shave
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, withdrawROGET THESAURUS
shave
Contraction
VB become small, become smaller, lessen, decrease, grow less, dwindle, shrink, contract, narrow, shrivel, collapse, wither, lose flesh, wizen, fall away, waste, wane, ebb, decay, be smaller than, fall short of, not come up to, render smaller, lessen, diminish, contract, draw in, narrow, coarctate, boil down, constrict, constringe, condense, compress, squeeze, corrugate, crimp, crunch, crush, crumple up, warp, purse up, pack, squeeze, stow, pinch, tighten, strangle, cramp, dwarf, bedwarf, shorten, circumscribe, restrain, (subtraction) 38 abrade, pare, reduce, attenuate, rub down, scrape, file, file down, grind, grind down, chip, shave, shear, wear down.Shortness
VB be short, render short, shorten, curtail, abridge, abbreviate, take in, reduce, compress, epitomize, retrench, cut short, obtruncate, scrimp, cut, chop up, hack, hew, cut down, pare down, clip, dock, lop, prune, shear, shave, mow, reap, crop, snub, truncate, pollard, stunt, nip, check the growth of, foreshorten (in drawing).Layer
VB slice, shave, pare, peel, delaminate, plate, coat, veneer, cover.Smoothness
VB smooth, smoothen, plane, file, mow, shave, level, roll, macadamize, polish, burnish, calender, glaze, iron, hot-press, mangle, lubricate.Untruth
N untruth, falsehood, lie, story, thing that is not, fib, bounce, crammer, taradiddle, whopper, jhuth, forgery, fabrication, invention, misstatement, misrepresentation, perversion, falsification, gloss, suggestio falsi, exaggeration, invention, fabrication, fiction, fable, nursery tale, romance, absurd story, untrue story, false story, trumped up story, trumped up statement, thing devised by the enemy, canard, shave, sell, hum, traveler's tale, Canterbury tale, cock and bull story, fairy tale, fake, claptrap, press agent's yarn, puff, puffery (exaggeration), myth, moonshine, bosh, all my eye and Betty Martin, mare's nest, farce, irony, half truth, white lie, pious fraud, mental reservation, pretense, pretext, false plea, subterfuge, evasion, shift, shuffle, make-believe, sham, profession, empty words, Judas kiss, disguise, untrue, false, phony, trumped up, void of foundation, without- foundation, fictive, far from the truth, false as dicer's oaths, unfounded, ben trovato, invented, fabulous, fabricated, forged, fictitious, factitious, supposititious, surreptitious, elusory, illusory, ironical, soi-disant, se non e vero e ben trovato, where none is meant that meets the ear.For further exploring for "shave" in Webster Dictionary Online