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raze

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "raze"

English

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WOTD – 8 January 2016

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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The verb is derived from Middle English rasen, racen, rase (“to scrape; to shave; to erase; to pull; to strip off; to pluck or tear out; to root out (a tree, etc.); to pull away, snatch; to pull down; to knock down; to rend, tear apart; to pick clean, strip; to cleave, slice; to sever; to lacerate; to pierce; to carve, engrave; to dig; (figurative) to expunge, obliterate; to alter”),[1] from Anglo-Norman raser, rasere, rasser, Middle French raser, and Old French raser (“to shave; to touch lightly, graze; to level off (grain, etc.) in a measure; to demolish, tear down; to erase; to polish; to wear down”), from Vulgar Latin *raso (“to shave; to scrape; to scratch; to touch lightly, graze”), from Latin rāsus (“scraped; shaved”), the perfect passive participle of rādō (“to scrape, scratch; to shave; to rub, smooth; to brush along, graze”).[2] Doublet of rash (etymology 2 and etymology 7).

The noun is derived from the verb.[3]

Verb

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raze (third-person singular simple present razes, present participle razing, simple past and past participle razed)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.
      • 1523 February 7 (Gregorian calendar), Johan Froyssart [i.e., Jean Froissart], “Howe the Frẽche Kyng Sent a Great Nauy to the See⸝ ⁊ howe Duyers Townes were Brent in Englande: ⁊ howe the Duke of Burgoyne Tooke Dyuers Castels about Calys”, in Here Begynneth the First Volum of Sir Johan Froyssart: Of the Cronycles of Englande⸝ Fraunce⸝ Spayne⸝ Portyngale⸝ Scotlande⸝ Bretayne⸝ Flañders: And Other Places Adioynynge. […], 1st volume, London: […] Richarde Pynson⸝ […], →OCLC; reprinted as The First Volum of Sir Johan Froyssart of the Chronycles of Englande⸝ Fraunce⸝ Spayne (The English Experience […]; no. 257), Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum; New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, 1970, →ISBN, folio cxcvii, verso, column 1:
        The fortreſſe was raſed and beaten downe to the erthe⸝ whiche had coſt moche the makynge therof: […]
      • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 103, column 1:
        Theſe are his ſubſtance, ſinevves, armes, and ſtrength, / VVith vvhich he yoaketh your rebellious Neckes, / Razeth your Cities, and ſubuerts your Tovvnes, / And in a moment makes them deſolate.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalm 137:7, signature Hhh2, verso, column 2:
        Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jeruſalem; who ſayd, raſe it, raſe it: euen to the foundation thereof.
      • [1611?], Homer, “The Second Booke of Homers Iliads”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC, page 22:
        [N]ovv I find, / Theſe men vvould render thee the ſhame, of all men; nor vvould pay, / Their ovvne vovves to thee, vvhen they tooke, their free and honord vvay, / From Argos hither; that till Troy, vvere by their braue hands rac't, / They vvould not turne home; […]
      • a. 1619 (date written), Walter Raleigh, The Life and Death of Mahomet, the Conquest of Spaine together with the Rysing and Ruine of the Sarazen Empire, London: […] R[alph] H[odgkinson] for Daniel Frere, […], published 1637, →OCLC, page 50:
        For his further ſecuritie he [Don Roderigo] diſarmed his ſubjects; ſuch Caſtles and ſtrengths as hee vvas jealous of vvere raced, […]
      • [1633], George Herbert, “The Sacrifice”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC, page 21:
        Some ſaid, that I the Temple to the floore / In three dayes raz'd, and raiſed as before.
      • 1659, Samuel Butler, “Two Speeches Made in the Rump-Parliament, when It was Restor’d by the Officers of the Army in the Year 1659”, in R[obert] Thyer, editor, The Genuine Remains in Verse and Prose of Mr. Samuel Butler, […], volume I, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1759, →OCLC, page 302:
        [A]fter they had deſtroyed Religion, they pulled dovvn Churches, (as being then of no Uſe) and raſed the nobleſt Structures in the Land, to ſell the Materials; […]
      • 1755, William Green, “A New Version of the Third Chapter of Habakkuk”, in A New Translation of the Prayer of Habakkuk, the Prayer of Moses, and the CXXXIX Psalm; […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] J[oseph] Bentham, printer to the University; [s]old by T. Merrill […], →OCLC, verse 18, page 10:
        Thou vvoundeſt the Head of the Houſe of the VVicked; / Thou raſedſt the Foundation even to the Rock; / Thou piercedſt thro' vvith thy Scepter the Head of the Villages.
      • 1774, Francis Grose, “Leeds Castle, Kent”, in The Antiquities of England and Wales, volume II, London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC:
        [Edward I of England] cauſed Henry Cobham, […] to race the caſtle that Robert de Crevequer had erected, becauſe Crevequer (that vvas the ovvner of it, and heire to Robert) vvas of the number of the nobles that moved and mainteined vvare againſt him; […]
      • 1781, Edward Gibbon, “Residence of Julian at Antioch—His Successful Expedition against the Persians— […]”, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 437:
        The fortifications vvere razed to the ground; and not a veſtige vvas left, that the city of Maogamalcha had ever existed.
      • 1843, William H[ickling] Prescott, “Decisive Victory—Indian Council—Night Attack—Negotiations with the Enemy—Tlascalan Hero”, in History of the Conquest of Mexico, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper and Brothers, […], →OCLC, book III (March to Mexico), page 452:
        He [Hernán Cortés] made the same professions of amity as befo0re, promising oblivion of all past injuries; but, if this proffer was rejected, he would visit their capital as a conqueror, raze every house in it to the ground, and put every inhabitant to the sword!
      • 2017 May 13, Barney Ronay, “Antonio Conte’s brilliance has turned Chelsea’s pop-up team into champions”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-04-27:
        Just as significant in the long term, Chelsea were also granted permission this season for their new on-site mega-stadium, a 60,000-seat upgrade that will mean the current Stamford Bridge is razed and replaced by something that looks like a vast alien space yurt made of giant Martian redwood stems.
      • 2018 December 1, Drachinifel [pseudonym], 9:45 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols – The West Africa Squadron‎[2], archived from the original on 2024-11-29:
        After his actions were challenged by foreign governments and Parliament initially tried to put a stop to his action, Denman returned home and argued his case with enough force that, by 1848, the Royal Navy was handed active permission and encouragement to raze every last slave factory they could find to the ground, and full authority to stop any ship, of any flag, that was thought to be a slaver, with a guarantee with[sic] no censure from the government.
    2. (figurative) To completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.; also, to remove from existence; to destroy, to obliterate.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:destroy
    3. (also figurative) To erase (a record, text, etc.), originally by scraping; to rub out, to scratch out.
    4. (archaic except UK, regional) To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially; to graze.
    5. (obsolete)
      1. To alter (a document) by erasing parts of it.
      2. To carve (a line, mark, etc.) into something; to incise, to inscribe; also, to carve lines, marks, etc., into (something); to engrave.
        • 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “VIII. Century. [Experiment Solitary, Touching Paintings of the Body.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 739, page 191:
          Generally, Barbarous People, that goe Naked, doe not onely paint Themſelues, but they povvnce and raze their Skinne, that the Painting may not be taken forth; And make it into VVorks.
        • 1678 January 11 – February 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] II. Applied to the Making of Hinges, Locks, Keys, Screws and Nuts Small and Great.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1683, →OCLC, page 17:
          [Y]ou muſt mark the out-lines of your intended Hinge, […] either vvith Chalk, or elſe raſe upon the Plate vvith the corner of the Cold-Chiſſel, or any other hardned Steel that vvill ſcratch a bright ſtroke upon the Plate: […]
        • 1759, Isaac Ambrose, “Dooms-day”, in The Compleat Works of that Eminent Minister of God’s Word Mr. Isaac Ambrose, […], Dundee, Scotland: […] Henry Galbraith and Company, →OCLC, page 304, column 1:
          This vvas the heart thou piercedſt, theſe are the vvounds thou razedſt, and this is the blood thou ſpilledſt: […]
          Applied to the causing of wounds on Jesus's body. The word was spelled raced in Prima & Ultima: The First & Last Thinges or Regeneration and Medita[t]ion Sermõs in Two Treatises (1st edition, 1640), page 232.
      3. To remove (something) by scraping; also, to cut or shave (something) off.
      4. To rub lightly along the surface of (something); brush against, to graze.
        • 1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, “[The XV. Booke.] Chapter III. Warre against the Lentienses, a People of Alemaine. The Description of the Lake Brigantia. The Romane Armie Discomfited and Put to Flight, having within a while after Vanquished the Alemans, Returned to Millaine, there to Winter.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Roman Historie, […], London: […] Adam Jslip, →OCLC, page 33:
          And novv [the Rhine] by this time augmented vvith ſnovv, melted and reſolved into vvater, and raſing as it goes the high bankes vvith their curving reaches, entreth into a round and vaſt lake (vvhich the Rhætians dvvelling thereby, call Brigantia) […]
        • 1786, [William Beckford], translated by [Samuel Henley], An Arabian Tale, from an Unpublished Manuscript: […] [Vathek], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 103:
          Sometimes, his feet raſed the ſurface of the water; and, at others, the ſkylight almoſt flattened his noſe.
      5. To scrape (something), with or as if with a razor, to remove things from its surface; also, to reduce (something) to small pieces by scraping; to grate.
        • 1621 August 13 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Ben Jonson, “The Masque of the Gypsies”, in Q. Horatius Flaccus: His Art of Poetry. […], London: […] J[ohn] Okes, for John Benson […], published 1640, →OCLC, page 65:
          And you are a ſoule, ſo vvhite, and ſo chaſte, / A table ſo ſmooth, and ſo nevvly ra'ſte, / As nothing cald foule, / Dare approach vvith a blot, / Or any leaſt ſpot; […]
      6. To shave (someone or part of their body) with a razor, etc.
        • 1580, Iohn Lyly [i.e., John Lyly], “Euphues to Him, that was His Philautus”, in Euphues and His England. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 82, verso:
          [A] ſharpe worde moued thée, when other whiles a ſworde will not, then a friendly checke killeth thée, when a raſor cannot raſe thée.
        • 1667, J[ohn] Evelyn, Publick Employment and an Active Life, with Its Appanages, such as Fame, Command, Riches, Conversation, &c. Preferred to Solitude: […], London: […] J. M. for H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC, pages 95–96:
          Do you fancy him retir'd that […] conſumes his time trifling amongſt Barbers, razing and ſprucing himſelf, Povvdering, Combing, and ſummoning a Council upon every Hair?
      7. (also figurative) To cut, scratch, or tear (someone or something) with a sharp object; to lacerate, to slash.
        • 1545, Roger Ascham, “The Seconde Booke”, in Toxophilus, the Schole, or Partitions of Shooting […], [new] edition, London: […] Thomas Marshe, published 1571, →OCLC, folio 38, recto:
          Buckles and agglettes at vnwares, ſhall race his bowe, a thinge both euill for the fight, ⁊ perillous for freatinge.
        • 1569 (date written), [Giovanni Boccaccio], “The Tenth Historie”, in Tragicall Tales […], London: […] Abell Ieffs, […], published 1587, →OCLC, folio 140, recto:
          His death did raze hir heart.
        • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
          Dravv forth thy ſvvord, thou mightie man at armes, / Intending but to raiſe my charmed ſkin: / And Ioue himſelfe vvill ſtretch his hand from heauen, / To vvard the blovv, and ſhield me ſafe from harme, […]
        • 1607, Gervase Markham, “Of Paine in the Teeth, and of the Woolfes”, in Cauelarice, or The English Horseman: […], London: […] [Edward Allde and W[illiam] Jaggard] for Edward White, […], →OCLC, 7th book, page 54:
          Paine in a horſſes teeth commeth either from pride and corruption of blood, or els from cold rhums, […] the cure is, vvith a ſharp knife to race him alongſt his gummes, cloſe vnder his teeth, both of the inſide and outſide: and then to rubbe them all ouer, either vvith pepper & ſalt vvel mingled together, or vvith claret vvine and pepper heated vpon the fire, […]
        • 1610, Gervase Markham, “Of Paine in a Horses Teeth, of Woolfes Teeth and Iaw Teeth”, in Markhams Maister-peece. Or, What doth a Horse-man Lacke. Containing All Possible Knowledge whatsoeuer which doth Belong to any Smith, Farrier, or Horse-leech, Touching the Curing of All Manner of Diseases or Sorrances in Horses; […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson, […], →OCLC, 2nd book (Containing All Cures Chyrurgicall, […]), page 266:
          Againe, a horſe vvill haue great paine in his teeth vvhen his vpper iavv teeth be ſo farre grovvne as they ouer-hang the neather iavv teeth; and therevvith alſo be ſo ſharpe, as in mouing his iavves they cut and raze the inſides of his cheekes, euen as they vvere razed vvith a knife.
        • 1678 January 11 – February 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] II. Applied to the Making of Hinges, Locks, Keys, Screws and Nuts Small and Great. Of Locks and Keys.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1683, →OCLC, page 19:
          Then File one edge very ſtraight by laying a ſtraight Ruler juſt vvithin the edge of it, and dravving or raceing vvith a point of hardned Steel a bright line by the ſide of the Ruler: […]
        • [1716], [John] Gay, “Book II. Of Walking the Streets by Day.”, in Trivia: Or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London, London: […] Bernard Lintott, […], →OCLC, page 36:
          VVheels o'er the harden'd VVaters ſmoothly glide, / And raſe vvith vvhiten'd Tracks the ſlipp'ry Tide.
  2. (intransitive, obsolete)
    1. To carve lines, marks, etc., into something.
    2. To graze or rub lightly along a surface.
      • 1555, Peter Martyr of Angleria [i.e., Peter Martyr d’Anghiera], “The Thyrde Booke of the Fyrst Decade, to Lodouike Cardinall of Aragonye and Neuie to the Kynge”, in Rycharde Eden [i.e., Richard Eden], transl., The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India, […], London: […] [Rycharde Jug for] Guilhelmi Powell, →OCLC, 1st decade, folio 15, verso:
        Betwene theſe Ilandes and the continente, he entered into ſoo narowe ſtreyghtes, that he coulde ſcarſely turne backe the ſhippes: And theſe alſo ſo ſhalowe, that the keele of the ſhyps ſumtyme raſed on the ſandes.
      • 1598, John Florio, “Rádere”, in A Worlde of Words, or Most Copious, and Exact Dictionarie in Italian and English, […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield for Edw[ard] Blount, →OCLC, page 308, column 1:
        Rádere, […] to raze or go along the ſhore as a ſhip doth, or to flye leuell to the ground as ſome birds do.
    3. To penetrate through something; to pierce.
      • 1677, W[illiam] Hubbard, The Present State of New-England. Being a Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New England, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Parkhurst […], →OCLC, page 39:
        [O]ne Robert Dutch of Ipſvvith, having been ſorely vvounded by a Bullet that raſed to his skull, and then mauled by the Indian Hatchets, left for dead by the Salvages,[sic – meaning Savages] and ſtript by them of all but his skin; […]
    4. (rare) Of a horse: to wear down its corner teeth as it ages, losing the black marks in their crevices.
Conjugation
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Conjugation of raze
infinitive (to) raze
present tense past tense
1st-person singular raze razed
2nd-person singular raze, razest† razed, razedst†
3rd-person singular razes, razeth† razed
plural raze
subjunctive raze razed
imperative raze —
participles razing razed

† Archaic or obsolete.

Alternative forms
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Translations
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Noun

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raze (plural razes)

  1. (obsolete) A slight wound; a scratch; also, a cut, a slit.
    • 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXIV.] Of 366 Excellent Peeces of Worke in Brasse, and as Many Cunning Artificers in that Kind.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 499:
      And verely the Emperour Nero vvas ſo greatly enamoured vpon one image of Alexander [the Great], that hee commaunded it to be guilded all over: but aftervvards, ſeeing that the more coſt vvas beſtovved upon it by laying on gold, the leſſe vvas the art ſeene of the firſt vvorkman [Lysippos], ſo that it loſt all the beautie and grace that it had by that means, he cauſed the gold to be taken off againe: and verely, the ſaid image thus unguilded as it vvas, ſeemed farre more precious than it vvas vvhiles it ſtood ſo enriched vvith gold, notvvithſtanding all the hackes, cuts, gaſhes, and raſes all over the bodie vvherein the gold did ſticke, remained ſtill, vvhich in ſome ſort might disfigure it.
    • 1610, Gervase Markham, “Of the Hoofe-bound”, in Markhams Maister-peece. Or, What doth a Horse-man Lacke. Containing All Possible Knowledge whatsoeuer which doth Belong to any Smith, Farrier, or Horse-leech, Touching the Curing of All Manner of Diseases or Sorrances in Horses; […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson, […], →OCLC, 2nd book (Containing All Cures Chyrurgicall, […]), pages 382–383:
      [I]f you make tvvo razes on each ſide [of the horse's hoof], it ſhall bee ſo much the better, and inlarge the hoofe the more; […]
    • 1631 November (date delivered), Robert Sanderson, “[Ad Aulum.] The First Sermon. White Hall, November 1631.”, in Twenty Sermons Formerly Preached. […], London: […] R. Norton, for Henry Seile […], published 1656, →OCLC, page 21:
      [A] man had better receive tvventy vvounds in his good name, then but a ſingle raze in his conſcience.
    • 1678 January 11 – February 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] II. Applied to the Making of Hinges, Locks, Keys, Screws and Nuts Small and Great. Of Hinges.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1683, →OCLC, page 17:
      [T]ake the Cold-Chiſſel in your left hand, and ſet the edge of it upon that mark or raſe, and vvith the Hand Hammer in your right hand ſtrike upon the Head of the Cold-Chiſſel, till you cut, or rather punch the edge of the Cold-Chiſſel almoſt through the Plate in that place: […]
Alternative forms
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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raze

  1. Obsolete spelling of race (rhizome of ginger).

Etymology 3

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Noun

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raze (plural razes)

  1. A swinging fence in a watercourse to prevent cattle passing through.

References

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  1. ^ “rāsen, v.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ Compare “raze, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2025; “raze, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “† raze, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Verb

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raze

  1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of razen

Anagrams

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Friulian

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Etymology 1

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Uncertain; possibly of South Slavic or substrate origin. Compare Slovene raca, Romanian rață.

Noun

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raze f (plural razis)

  1. duck

Etymology 2

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Compare Italian razza.

Noun

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raze f (plural razis)

  1. race
  2. breed
  3. strain

Haitian Creole

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Etymology

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From French raser.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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raze

  1. to shave

References

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  • Targète, Jean and Urciolo, Raphael G. Haitian Creole-English dictionary (1993; →ISBN)

Romanian

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Pronunciation

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IPA(key): [ˈraze]

Noun

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raze f

  1. inflection of rază:
    1. indefinite genitive/dative singular
    2. indefinite nominative/accusative/genitive/dative plural
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