razee

American  

[rey-zee] / reɪˈzi /

noun

1. a ship, especially a warship, reduced in height by the removal of the upper deck.

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verb (used with object)

razeed, razeeing

1. to cut down (a wooden ship) by removing the upper deck.

razee British  

/ ˈræziː /

noun

1. a sailing ship that has had its upper deck or decks removed

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verb

1. to remove the upper deck or decks of (a sailing ship)

Etymology

Origin of razee

1785–95; < French ( vaisseau ) rasé razed (ship), past participle of raser to raze

Example Sentences

Sir Borlase despatched a razee and a frigate after the fugitives.

From My Lords of Strogue Vol. III, (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Wingfield, Lewis

The Endymion would never have engaged the frigate President, but knowing herself backed by three frigates and a razee, who, though somewhat slower sailors, would get up before she could be taken.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 4 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson

On the 26th of July, 1847, the Columbus, seventy-four, bearing the pennant of Commodore Biddle, sailed from San Francisco for the United States, leaving the flag of the Commander-in-Chief, flying on board the razee Independence.

From Los Gringos Or, An Inside View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings in Peru, Chili, and Polynesia by Wise, H. A. (Henry Augustus)

A breeze sprang up by noon, and the two nearest vessels of the fleet, a thirty-eight-gun frigate, and a razee of fifty, slipped their moorings and came down before it.

From Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors: Tales of 1812 by Barnes, James

Twice a 74 captured or destroyed two frigates, and a razee performed a similar feat.

From The Naval War of 1812 Or the History of the United States Navy during the Last War with Great Britain to Which Is Appended an Account of the Battle of New Orleans by Roosevelt, Theodore