shave

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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English shaven, schaven, from Old English scafan (“to shave, scrape, shred, polish”), from Proto-Germanic *skabaną (“to scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skÀbʰ-, *skabʰ- (“to cut, split, form, carve”). Cognate with West Frisian skave, Dutch schaven (“to shave, plane”), German schaben (“to scrape, shave”), Danish skave, Swedish skava (“to scrape, chafe”), Icelandic skafa.

Verb[edit]

shave (third-person singular simple present shaves, present participle shaving, simple past shaved or shove (obsolete), past participle shaved or shaven)

  1. (transitive) To make bald by using a tool such as a razor or pair of electric clippers to cut the hair close to the skin.
  2. (intransitive) To do the same to one's face.
    I had little time to shave this morning.
  3. (transitive) To cut finely, as with slices of meat.
  4. to make a passage at a close distance
    • 1899, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, section 2
      [...] I watched for sunken stones; I was learning to clap my teeth smartly before my heart flew out, when I shaved by a fluke some infernal sly old snag that would have ripped the life out of the tin–pot steamboat and drowned all the pilgrims; [...]
  5. (archaic) To be hard and severe in a bargain; to practice extortion; to cheat.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to remove hair from
to remove hair from one's face
to slice thin
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Translations to be checked

Etymology 2[edit]

Old English sceafa

Noun[edit]

shave (plural shaves)

  1. An instance of shaving.
    I instructed the barber to give me a shave.
  2. A thin slice; a shaving.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Wright to this entry?)
  3. (US, slang, dated) An exorbitant discount on a note.
  4. (US, slang, dated) 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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of N. Biddle to this entry?)
  5. A hand tool consisting of a sharp blade with a handle at each end; a spokeshave.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
an instance of shaving

Anagrams[edit]

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