razor

[rey-zer]

noun

1. a sharp-edged instrument used especially for shaving the face or trimming the hair.

2. an electrically powered instrument used for the same purpose.

verb (used with object)

1. to shave, cut, or remove with or as if with a razor.

razor

/ ˈreɪzə /

noun

1. a sharp implement used esp by men for shaving the face

2. in an acute dilemma

verb

1. (tr) to cut or shave with a razor

Other Word Forms

• razorless adjective
• unrazored adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of razor¹

1250–1300; Middle English rasour < Old French rasor, equivalent to ras ( er ) to raze + -or -or ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of razor¹

C13: from Old French raseor , from raser to shave; see _raze

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. on the razor's edge, in a difficult or precarious position.

see sharp as a tack (razor).

Example Sentences

"It will take a colossal effort, but we are excited about the challenge, and we know that we have to be razor sharp in all departments to get the desired result."

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But the margin for error is razor thin.

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The android knows how to navigate the planet’s threats—exploding spike plants, acid-spitting eels, literal razor grass—so Dek reluctantly teams up with her to find his quarry.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

I don’t have a theory for Mr. Roberts’s motive, although I am partial to the principle known as Hanlon’s razor: Don’t attribute to malice what you can explain by stupidity.

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Studying assassinations is indeed like “running a razor blade down the history of international politics: the cut is narrow, but long and deep.”

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Related Words

• blade 
• knife 
• shaver