shave
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shave¹
- /ˈʃeɪ̯v/
- [ˈʃeɪ̯v]
Rhymes with -eɪv
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English shaven, schaven, from Old English sċafan (“to shave, scrape, shred, polish”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaban, from Proto-Germanic *skabaną (“to scrape”), from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to cut, split, form, carve”).
Cognate with West Frisian skave, Dutch schaven, Low German schaven, German schaben, Danish skave, Norwegian Nynorsk skava, Swedish skava, Icelandic skafa, Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (skaban), all roughly “to scrape, chafe, shave, plane, remove the outer lay of”.
verb shaves · shaving · shaved · shove
- To make (the head, skin etc.) bald or (the hair) shorter by using a tool such as a razor or electric clippers to cut the hair close to the skin.
- To cut anything in this fashion. The Lab'rer vvith the bending Scythe is ſeen / Shaving the Surface of the vvaving Green; […]
- To remove hair from one's face by this means. I had little time to shave this morning.
- To cut finely, for example slices of meat.
- To skim along or near the surface of; to pass close to, or touch lightly, in passing. Now shaves with level wing the deep.
- To reduce in size, weight, time taken etc., usually by a small amount. Kingsman’s two-hour 20-minute running time could have been shaved by around a fifth, without losing a great deal.
- To be hard and severe in a bargain with; to practice extortion on; to cheat.
- To buy (a note) at a discount greater than the legal rate of interest, or to deduct in discounting it more than the legal rate allows.
- To injure by employing a knife. Took one of the goons, the fuck they gonna do? Shave him in the heart then the mandem smoke a zoot
shave²
- /ˈʃeɪ̯v/
- [ˈʃeɪ̯v]
Rhymes with -eɪv
Where it comes from
From Middle English shave, from Old English sceafa, from Proto-Germanic *skabô.
noun shaves
- An instance of shaving. I instructed the barber to give me a shave.
- A thin slice; a shaving. a jolly mealy 'tator, with a shave of butter, and a shake of pepper
- An exorbitant discount on a note. yea, tis knowable that the paper money of some of them would not pass, comparatively speaking, much, if any, beyond the smoke of the chimney from whence 'twas issued and circulated before you, or those who had it would have to take a broker's shave on it , at the rate of from a ¼, to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
- 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. If this were a dishonest transaction, why did the companies settle? If it were not, why did the heirs submit to a shave of one-half their claims?
- A hand tool, mainly for woodworking, consisting of a sharp blade with a handle at each end.
- A narrow miss or escape; a close shave. "[…] I had an awful shave getting into the harbour," remarked Archie.
Shave³
proper noun
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: epilate, knock off, plane, trim, barber, razor, pare, beard, tack, cut, flatten, level, raze, save, sir, fly
Translations
Every language
verb to remove hair from
| Español | afeitar, rapar, rasurar, resurar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 꺾다 kkeokda, 면도하다 myeondohada |
| 日本語 | そる soru |
| 中文 | 刮 guā, 剃 tì, 削 |
| हिन्दी | दाढ़ी बनाना dāṛhī banānā |
| Português | barbear, raspar |
| Français | raser, se raser |
| Deutsch | rasieren |
| Italiano | radere, rasare |
| Ελληνικά | ξυρίζω xyrízo |
| Română | rade, bărbieri |
| Русский | брить britʹ, побри́ть pobrítʹ, выска́бливать vyskáblivatʹ, вы́скоблить výskoblitʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | cạo |
| العربية | حَلَقَ ḥalaqa |
| עברית | גילח giléakh |
verb to remove hair from one's face
| Español | afeitarse |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 면도하다 myeondohada |
| 日本語 | ひげをそる hige o soru |
| 中文 | 刮臉 /刮脸 guāliǎn, 刮鬍子 /刮胡子 guāhúzi |
| Português | barbear-se, fazer a barba |
| Français | se raser |
| Deutsch | sich rasieren |
| Italiano | farsi la barba, radersi, rasarsi, sbarbarsi |
| Ελληνικά | ξυρίζομαι xyrízomai |
| Română | bărbieri |
| Русский | бри́ться brítʹsja, побри́ться pobrítʹsja |
| Tiếng Việt | cạo mặt, cạo râu |
| עברית | התגלח |
Talk about this word "shave." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shave. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. shave. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shave "shave." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shave.Cite this
@misc{shave_2026,
title = {shave},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shave},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
