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)
-
shaves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shaved,
past participle, past
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shaven,
past participle
-
shaving
present participle
-
to remove hair from (the face, legs, etc.) by cutting it off close to the skin with a razor.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
any tool for scraping
-
a thin slice or shaving
-
an instance of barely touching something
-
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
-
have shavedperfect
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have shavenperfect
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has shavedperfect
-
has shavenperfect
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am shavingprogressive
-
are shavingprogressive
-
is shavingprogressive
-
have been shavingperfect progressive
-
has been shavingperfect progressive
Past
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shavedsimple
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had shavedperfect
-
had shavenperfect
-
was shavingprogressive
-
were shavingprogressive
-
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:
"He didn't want to shave his beard off," Thomson said laughing.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
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
Shekhar, who neglected to pack a razor blade and asks to borrow one, is persuaded not to shave after polling his friends, who also intend, at first, to rough it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 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
In the photo, his eyes were pointed toward the floor, and hair dotted his chin and upper lip, like he hadn’t gotten to shave.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
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 more than $1-a-gallon run-up since January shaves about 5% off her earnings for most journeys.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 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
I love the feel of the scratchy stubble on my father’s face before he shaves.
From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper
Now, the accused are now being brought to court with shaved faces, wearing orange jumpsuits.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 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
It included Trump Jr.’s brother-in-law Jared Kushner, Eric Trump — and Kremlev, an imposing man with a shaved head who speaks limited English.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Rhiannon was brought to tears recalling the look on her parents' faces when they first saw her after her head had been shaved.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Uncle rushed out and bought a pair of dogskin gloves, some ugly, thick shoes, and an umbrella, and got shaved à la mutton chop, the first thing.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Who knows where the trend began, but I remain clean shaven.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
The Sheriff’s Department is looking for the suspect, who was described as a Black male, 6 feet, 2 inches tall, 180 pounds and with a shaven head.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2025
She had spotted her son in the image, taken from above, of a sea of shaven heads belonging to men in white T-shirts sat in long, straight rows.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2025
Mr. Bankman-Fried, 32, was in the courtroom, clean shaven and wearing a loose fitting brown jail uniform.
From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2024
He felt a dribble of sweat slide down the crown of his shaven head.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
Investment contracted by 0.6 percent, and foreign trade also made a negative contribution to growth, shaving 0.6 percentage points off GDP growth.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Shares in the Swiss maker of generic medicines fell as much as 8% in European morning trading Wednesday before bouncing back, shaving off some of the stock’s gains in the year to date.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 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
Ifemelu remembered a nurse cheerfully shaving her pubic hair, the rough scratch of the razor blade, the smell of antiseptic.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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