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rase

[reyz]
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verb (used with object), rased, ras·ing.
  1. raze.
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Related formsras·er, noun

raze

or rase

[reyz]
verb (used with object), razed, raz·ing.
  1. to tear down; demolish; level to the ground: to raze a row of old buildings.
  2. to shave or scrape off.
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Origin of raze

1540–50; Middle English rasen < Middle French raser < *Vulgar Latin rāsāre to scrape, frequentative of Latin rādere to scrape
Related formsraz·er, nounun·razed, adjective
Can be confusedraze raise

Synonym study

1. See destroy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for rasing

Historical Examples

  • Thus they fared two hours or more trasing and rasing either other, where they might hit any bare place.

    Le Morte D'Arthur, Volume I (of II)

    Thomas Malory

  • And lightly they avoided their horses and rushed together, tracing, rasing, and foining.

British Dictionary definitions for rasing

rase

verb
  1. a variant spelling of raze
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raze

rase

verb (tr)
  1. to demolish (a town, buildings, etc) completely; level (esp in the phrase raze to the ground)
  2. to delete; erase
  3. archaic to graze
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Derived Formsrazer or raser, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Old French raser from Latin rādere to scrape
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for rasing

raze

v.

1540s, alteration of racen "pull or knock down" (a building or town), from earlier rasen (14c.) "to scratch, slash, scrape, erase," from Old French raser "to scrape, shave" (see rase). Related: Razed; razing.

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rase

v.

late 14c., "remove by scraping, rub, scrape out, erase," from Old French raser "to scrape, shave," from Medieval Latin rasare, frequentative of Latin radere (past participle rasus) "to scrape, shave," perhaps from PIE *razd- (cf. Latin rastrum "rake"), possible extended form of root *red- "to scrape, scratch, gnaw" (see rodent). Related: Rased; rasing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper