raze

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground

   To level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.

   • The fortreſſe was raſed and beaten downe to the erthe⸝ whiche had coſt moche the makynge therof: […]
   • 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.
   • Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jeruſalem; who ſayd, raſe it, raſe it: euen to the foundation thereof.
2. 2

   To completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.

   To completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.; also, to remove from existence; to destroy, to obliterate.

   • VVithout reſpect of ſex, degree or age. / He raceth all his foes vvith fire and ſvvord.
   • Ile find a day to maſſacre them all, / And race their faction and their familie, […]
3. 3

   To erase (a record, text, etc.), originally by scraping

   To erase (a record, text, etc.), originally by scraping; to rub out, to scratch out.

   • Suppleyng to Fame, I besought her grace, / And that it wolde please her, full tenderly I prayd, / Owt of her bokis Apollo to rase.
   • The wound alas happe in some other place, / From whence no toole away the skar can race.
   • [D]rowſie drouping Age, / incroaching on apace, / With penſiue Plough will raze your hue / and Beauties beames deface.
4. ›+ 15 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially

      To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially; to graze.

      • [T]he ſvvorde more mercifull then hee to himſelfe, vvith the ſlipping of the pommel, the point ſvvarued, and razed him but vpon the ſide: […]
      • For vvas he not in the neareſt Neighbourhood to Death? And might not the Bullet, that perhaps raſed his Cheek, have as eaſily gone into his Head?
      • I cou'd not bear / To raze thy Skin [with a dagger], to ſave the VVorld from Ruin.
   2. 5

      To alter (a document) by erasing parts of it.

      • This indenture is raced all the worlde may ſe it: Ceſte indenture eſt faulcée tout le monde le peult veoyr.
      • But I vvill take another order novv, / And race th'eternall Regiſter of time: […]
   3. 6

      To carve (a line, mark, etc.) into something

      To carve (a line, mark, etc.) into something; to incise, to inscribe; also, to carve lines, marks, etc., into (something); to engrave.

      • 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.
      • [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: […]
      • This vvas the heart thou piercedſt, theſe are the vvounds thou razedſt, and this is the blood thou ſpilledſt: […]
   4. 7

      To remove (something) by scraping

      To remove (something) by scraping; also, to cut or shave (something) off.

   5. 8

      To rub lightly along the surface of (something)

      To rub lightly along the surface of (something); brush against, to graze.

      • Sometimes, his feet raſed the ſurface of the water; and, at others, the ſkylight almoſt flattened his noſe.
   6. 9

      To scrape (something), with or as if with a razor, to remove things from its surface

      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.

      • 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; […]
   7. 10

      To shave (someone or part of their body) with a razor, etc.

      • [A] ſharpe worde moued thée, when other whiles a ſworde will not, then a friendly checke killeth thée, when a raſor cannot raſe thée.
      • 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?
   8. 11

      To cut, scratch, or tear (someone or something) with a sharp object

      To cut, scratch, or tear (someone or something) with a sharp object; to lacerate, to slash.

      • Buckles and agglettes at vnwares, ſhall race his bowe, a thinge both euill for the fight, ⁊ perillous for freatinge.
      • His death did raze hir heart.
      • 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, […]
   9. 12

      To carve lines, marks, etc., into something.

   10. 13

       To graze or rub lightly along a surface.

       • 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.
       • Rádere, […] to raze or go along the ſhore as a ſhip doth, or to flye leuell to the ground as ſome birds do.
   11. 14

       To penetrate through something

       To penetrate through something; to pierce.

       • [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; […]
   12. 15

       Of a horse

       Of a horse: to wear down its corner teeth as it ages, losing the black marks in their crevices.

   13. 16

       A slight wound

       A slight wound; a scratch; also, a cut, a slit.

       • [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; […]
       • [A] man had better receive tvventy vvounds in his good name, then but a ſingle raze in his conſcience.
   14. 17

       Obsolete spelling of race (“rhizome of ginger”).

   15. 18

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

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