shave
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to remove hair from (the face, legs, etc.) by cutting it off close to the skin with a razor.
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to cut off (hair, especially the beard) close to the skin with a razor (often followed by off oraway ).
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to cut or scrape away the surface of with a sharp-edged tool.
to shave hides in preparing leather.
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to reduce to shavings or thin slices.
to shave wood.
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to cut or trim closely.
to shave a lawn.
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to scrape, graze, or come very near to.
The car just shaved the garage door.
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Commerce. to purchase (a note) at a rate of discount greater than is legal or customary.
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to reduce or deduct from.
The store shaved the price of winter suits in the spring.
noun
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the act, process, or an instance of shaving or being shaved.
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a thin slice; a shaving.
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any of various tools for shaving, scraping, removing thin slices, etc.
verb
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(also intr) to remove (the beard, hair, etc) from (the face, head, or body) by scraping the skin with a razor
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to cut or trim very closely
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to reduce to shavings
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to remove thin slices from (wood, etc) with a sharp cutting tool; plane or pare
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to touch or graze in passing
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informal to reduce (a price) by a slight amount
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commerce to purchase (a commercial paper) at a greater rate of discount than is customary or legal
noun
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the act or an instance of shaving
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any tool for scraping
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a thin slice or shaving
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an instance of barely touching something
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informal a narrow escape
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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reshaveverb
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shavableadjective
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shaveableadjective
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unshavableadjective
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unshaveableadjective
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unshavedadjective
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well-shavedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shavesimple
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shavessimple
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have shavedperfect
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have shavenperfect
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has shavedperfect
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has shavenperfect
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am shavingprogressive
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are shavingprogressive
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is shavingprogressive
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have been shavingperfect progressive
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has been shavingperfect progressive
Past
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shavedsimple
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had shavedperfect
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had shavenperfect
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was shavingprogressive
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were shavingprogressive
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had been shavingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shave
before 900; (v.) Middle English schaven, schafen, Old English sc ( e ) afan; cognate with Dutch schaven to plane (a plank), abrade (the skin), Low German schaven, German schaben, Old Norse skafa to scrape, Gothic skaban to shear, shave; (noun) Middle English schave tool for shaving, Old English sc ( e ) afa, derivative of the v.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cornborough is an ambassador for Rugby Against Cancer and took part in cancer charity Macmillan's Brave the Shave campaign, raising more than £5,000.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2024
Adele, a New York native who moved to Freehold, N.J., is survived by her son, and daughters Virginia Shave and Pamela Springsteen.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2024
The direct-to-consumer model, pioneered by companies like Dollar Shave Club and Stitch Fix, was an innovative approach years ago but now is saturated.
From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2024
“The No. 1 problem for hikers, runners, walkers is ultimately knees and ankles,” Shave said.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 4, 2022
They passed on from there to a Travel Hall, where they saw the car covered with tiles, and the functioning Rube Goldberg chicken device and the rusting Burma Shave ads on the wall.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
