shave
Americanverb (used without object)
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shaves,
present (3rd person singular)
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shaved,
past participle, past
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shaven,
past participle
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shaving
present participle
verb (used with object)
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shaves,
present (3rd person singular)
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shaved,
past participle, past
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shaven,
past participle
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shaving
present participle
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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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shaves
plural
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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.
See Examples For:
The new method appeared to shave several tenths off the previous rate of inflation, but not enough to suggest a major change in the trend.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
When her hair began falling out during chemotherapy she decided to shave her head, but wanted to make it as positive an experience as possible for her children.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Drought and record heatwaves across France this summer will shave 0.1 percent off the country's economic growth this year, adding to the heavy human toll, the finance ministry said Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
One of the goals of the merger is to shave costs by consolidating overlapping business divisions and back-office functions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Is it possible Mr. Lincoln is due for a shave when he passes through Baltimore?”
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Still, the third-fastest time in history shaves another tenth of a second off the 22-year-old's personal best and only increases the sense that she will break the record sooner rather than later.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
A sermon used to take him 10 to 15 hours to prepare; a chatbot doing first-pass research and phrasing shaves off several of them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
The 37-year-old millionaire has also posted images of hundreds of inmates, their head shaves, in orange uniforms being moved to a new mega-prison, echoing moves by El Salvador's Nayib Bukele.
From Barron's ● Nov. 16, 2025
His agent, Scott Boras, is the best in the business, and he doesn’t give hometown discounts or anything else that shaves numbers off the bottom line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2024
As I collect fist-sized, dry tree branches, Chou bends and shaves the leaves with her ax.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
"I cut off my ponytail, shaved off my beard, took all my earrings out, bought a £60 suit - all that's totally true - the day before I had my interview."
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
I instantly shaved $300 off the bill with the twice-a-year $300 Fine Hotels & Resorts credit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Gone are the head wraps and proudly showing her shaved head has become "the new normal".
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
For me, that has meant chicken with scallions and frozen ginger cubes; shaved corn with poblano and onion; butternut squash with thyme and shallots; grated tomato with basil and garlic.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
He looks strong and healthy and freshly shaved.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
Who knows where the trend began, but I remain clean shaven.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Smith is described by police as white, bald, and clean shaven.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2025
And then there are the images of the migrants deported to a notorious El Salvador prison, shackled one behind the other in prison garb, their heads bowed and shaven.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025
He is described as about 5ft 11ins tall, with short dark brown hair, and is usually clean shaven.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2024
They were freshly showered and shaven, cocky in their Sunday suits but uneasy, too, as if they were about to go to court.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Here are Dr Kentley's top tips for shaving to protect skin:
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Schick revolutionized shaving with injector razors and multiblades in a single cartridge, slugging it out in the marketplace for decades with rival shaving giant Gillette.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
“Cancer has a way of taking things you never realized you’d grieve,” she wrote alongside a video of the parents shaving Whimsy’s head.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Before shaving his head last summer, Robert Capron held a “funeral” for his hair, where he and some friends lit candles and printed out photos of his best hair days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
Kaede noticed he had grown a beard, too, and she wondered when he had stopped shaving.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
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.
