raze
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: rāz
ipa: /ɹeɪz/
ipa: /ɹæɪz/
homophone: raise
homophone: rase
homophone: rays
homophone: rehs
homophone: réis
homophone: res
rhymes: -eɪz
Forms: form: razes
form: razing
form: razed
form: razed
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: raze
form: raze
form: razed
form: raze
form: razest
form: razed
form: razedst
form: razes
form: razeth
form: razed
form: raze
form: razed
form: raze
form: razed
form: raze
form: -
form: razing
form: razed
form: race
form: rase
Etymology: The verb is derived from Middle English rasen, racen, rase (“to scrape; to shave; to erase; to pull; to strip off; to pluck or tear out; to root out (a tree, etc.); to pull away, snatch; to pull down; to knock down; to rend, tear apart; to pick clean, strip; to cleave, slice; to sever; to lacerate; to pierce; to carve, engrave; to dig; (figurative) to expunge, obliterate; to alter”), from Anglo-Norman raser, rasere, rasser, Middle French raser, and Old French raser (“to shave; to touch lightly, graze; to level off (grain, etc.) in a measure; to demolish, tear down; to erase; to polish; to wear down”), from Vulgar Latin *raso (“to shave; to scrape; to scratch; to touch lightly, graze”), from Latin rāsus (“scraped; shaved”), the perfect passive participle of rādō (“to scrape, scratch; to shave; to rub, smooth; to brush along, graze”). Doublet of rash (etymology 2 and etymology 7).
The noun is derived from the verb.
Senses: examples: text: The fortreſſe was raſed and beaten downe to the erthe⸝ whiche had coſt moche the makynge therof: […]
ref: 1523 February 7 (Gregorian calendar), Johan Froyssart [i.e., Jean Froissart], “Howe the Frẽche Kyng Sent a Great Nauy to the See⸝ ⁊ howe Duyers Townes were Brent in Englande: ⁊ howe the Duke of Burgoyne Tooke Dyuers Castels about Calys”, in Here Begynneth the First Volum of Sir Johan Froyssart: Of the Cronycles of Englande⸝ Fraunce⸝ Spayne⸝ Portyngale⸝ Scotlande⸝ Bretayne⸝ Flañders: And Other Places Adioynynge. […], 1st volume, London: […] Richarde Pynson⸝ […], →OCLC; reprinted as The First Volum of Sir Johan Froyssart of the Chronycles of Englande⸝ Fraunce⸝ Spayne (The English Experience […]; no. 257), Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum; New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, 1970, →ISBN, folio cxcvii, verso, column 1:
text: Theſe are his ſubſtance, ſinevves, armes, and ſtrength, / VVith vvhich he yoaketh your rebellious Neckes, / Razeth your Cities, and ſubuerts your Tovvnes, / And in a moment makes them deſolate.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 103, column 1:
text: Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jeruſalem; who ſayd, raſe it, raſe it: euen to the foundation thereof.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalm 137:7, signature Hhh2, verso, column 2:
text: [N]ovv I find, / Theſe men vvould render thee the ſhame, of all men; nor vvould pay, / Their ovvne vovves to thee, vvhen they tooke, their free and honord vvay, / From Argos hither; that till Troy, vvere by their braue hands rac't, / They vvould not turne home; […]
ref: [1611?], Homer, “The Second Booke of Homers Iliads”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC, page 22:
text: For his further ſecuritie he [Don Roderigo] diſarmed his ſubjects; ſuch Caſtles and ſtrengths as hee vvas jealous of vvere raced, […]
ref: a. 1619 (date written), Walter Raleigh, The Life and Death of Mahomet, the Conquest of Spaine together with the Rysing and Ruine of the Sarazen Empire, London: […] R[alph] H[odgkinson] for Daniel Frere, […], published 1637, →OCLC, page 50:
text: Some ſaid, that I the Temple to the floore / In three dayes raz'd, and raiſed as before.
ref: [1633], George Herbert, “The Sacrifice”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC, page 21:
text: [A]fter they had deſtroyed Religion, they pulled dovvn Churches, (as being then of no Uſe) and raſed the nobleſt Structures in the Land, to ſell the Materials; […]
ref: 1659, Samuel Butler, “Two Speeches Made in the Rump-Parliament, when It was Restor’d by the Officers of the Army in the Year 1659”, in R[obert] Thyer, editor, The Genuine Remains in Verse and Prose of Mr. Samuel Butler, […], volume I, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1759, →OCLC, page 302:
text: Thou vvoundeſt the Head of the Houſe of the VVicked; / Thou raſedſt the Foundation even to the Rock; / Thou piercedſt thro' vvith thy Scepter the Head of the Villages.
ref: 1755, William Green, “A New Version of the Third Chapter of Habakkuk”, in A New Translation of the Prayer of Habakkuk, the Prayer of Moses, and the CXXXIX Psalm; […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] J[oseph] Bentham, printer to the University; [s]old by T. Merrill […], →OCLC, verse 18, page 10:
text: [Edward I of England] cauſed Henry Cobham, […] to race the caſtle that Robert de Crevequer had erected, becauſe Crevequer (that vvas the ovvner of it, and heire to Robert) vvas of the number of the nobles that moved and mainteined vvare againſt him; […]
ref: 1774, Francis Grose, “Leeds Castle, Kent”, in The Antiquities of England and Wales, volume II, London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC:
text: The fortifications vvere razed to the ground; and not a veſtige vvas left, that the city of Maogamalcha had ever existed.
ref: 1781, Edward Gibbon, “Residence of Julian at Antioch—His Successful Expedition against the Persians— […]”, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 437:
text: He [Hernán Cortés] made the same professions of amity as befo0re, promising oblivion of all past injuries; but, if this proffer was rejected, he would visit their capital as a conqueror, raze every house in it to the ground, and put every inhabitant to the sword!
ref: 1843, William H[ickling] Prescott, “Decisive Victory—Indian Council—Night Attack—Negotiations with the Enemy—Tlascalan Hero”, in History of the Conquest of Mexico, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper and Brothers, […], →OCLC, book III (March to Mexico), page 452:
text: Just as significant in the long term, Chelsea were also granted permission this season for their new on-site mega-stadium, a 60,000-seat upgrade that will mean the current Stamford Bridge is razed and replaced by something that looks like a vast alien space yurt made of giant Martian redwood stems.
ref: 2017 May 13, Barney Ronay, “Antonio Conte’s brilliance has turned Chelsea’s pop-up team into champions”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Apr 2025:
text: After his actions were challenged by foreign governments and Parliament initially tried to put a stop to his action, Denman returned home and argued his case with enough force that, by 1848, the Royal Navy was handed active permission and encouragement to raze every last slave factory they could find to the ground, and full authority to stop any ship, of any flag, that was thought to be a slaver, with a guarantee with^([sic]) no censure from the government.
ref: 2018 December 1, Drachinifel [pseudonym], 9:45 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols – The West Africa Squadron, archived from the original on 29 Nov 2024:
glosses: To level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.
examples: text: Yet at the laſt, caſting with my ſelf, that yͤ heat of thy loue might cleane be razed with yͤ coldnes of my letter, I thought it good to commit an inconuenience, that I might preuent a miſchiefe, chuſing rather to cut thée off ſhort by rigour, then to giue thée any iot of hope by ſilence.
ref: 1580, Iohn Lyly [i.e., John Lyly], “To Philautus”, in Euphues and His England. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 71, recto:
text: VVithout reſpect of ſex, degree or age. / He raceth all his foes vvith fire and ſvvord.
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act IIII, scene i:
text: Ile find a day to maſſacre them all, / And race their faction and their familie, […]
ref: c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, […], published 1594, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], signature C2, recto:
text: It is true, the Devil did not immediately raſe out the Notion of Religion and of a God from the Minds of Men, […]
ref: 1726, [Daniel Defoe], “Of the Devil’s Second Kingdom, and How He Got Footing in the Renew’d World by His Victory over Noah and His Race”, in The Political History of the Devil, as well Ancient as Modern: […], London: […] T. Warner, […], →OCLC, part I, page 156:
text: [I]t seemed his desire to raze every trace of sorrow from the memory of his child; and to conceal the ravages of death under the appearance at least of wild and unceasing gaiety.
ref: 1816, [Caroline Lamb], chapter VIII, in Glenarvon. […], volume I, London: […] [Schulze and Dean] for Henry Colburn, →OCLC, page 69:
synonyms: word: destroy
word: annihilate
word: aerosolize
word: atomize
word: benothing
word: bewreck
word: blot out
word: blotto
word: dash
word: decompose
word: demolish
word: desolate
word: devastate
word: diffuse
word: disintegrate
word: disperse
word: dissolve
word: eliminate
word: eradicate
word: erase
word: exterminate
word: extinguish
word: extirpate
word: fuck
word: harry
word: jazz
word: lay waste
word: level
word: liquidate
word: nuke
word: obliterate
word: pull down
word: pulverize
word: race
word: raze
word: ravage
word: remove
word: ruin
word: stamp out
word: total
word: unbreed
word: unexist
word: unmake
word: uproot
word: waste
word: wipe out
word: wipe off
word: wreck
glosses: To completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.; also, to remove from existence; to destroy, to obliterate.
examples: text: Suppleyng to Fame, I besought her grace, / And that it wolde please her, full tenderly I prayd, / Owt of her bokis Apollo to rase.
ref: 1523, John Skelton, “A Ryght Delectable Tratyse vpon a Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 420, lines 1478–1480:
text: The wound alas happe in some other place, / From whence no toole away the skar can race.
ref: c. 1528–1541 (date written), Thomas Wyatt, “[Sonnets] Sonnet 31”, in A[gnes] K[ate] Foxwell, editor, The Poems of Sir Thomas Wiat […], volume I, London: Hodder and Stoughton [for the] University of London Press, published 1913, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 43, lines 13–14:
text: [D]rowſie drouping Age, / incroaching on apace, / With penſiue Plough will raze your hue / and Beauties beames deface.
ref: 1567, George Turbervil[l]e, “The Louer Exhorteth His Ladie to Take Time, while Time is”, in Epitaphes, Epigrams, Songs and Sonets, with a Discourse of the Friendly Affections of Tymetes to Pyndara His Ladie. […], London: […] Henry Denham, →OCLC, folios 32, verso – 33, recto:
text: [N]o malice of ſucceeding daies, / can raſe thoſe records of thy laſting praiſe.
ref: 1595, G. W. I[unior], “[Dedicatory poem]”, in Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, signature [¶4], recto:
text: Thus there he ſtood, vvhyleſt high ouer his head, / There vvritten vvas the purport of his ſin, / In cyphers ſtrange, that fevv could rightly read, / BON FONS: but bon that once had vvritten bin, / VVas raced out, and Mal vvas novv put in.
ref: 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 26, page 303:
text: Goodl[ack]. My name is Captaine Thomas Good—— / Beſſ[e Bridges]. I can ſee no good in thee, Race that ſyllable / Out of thy name.
ref: c. 1597–1603 (date written), Thomas Heywood, The Fair Maid of the West. Or, A Girle Worth Gold. The First Part. […], London: […] [Miles Flesher] for Richard Royston, […], published 1631, →OCLC, Act III, page 38:
text: The painefull vvarrier famoſed for vvorth, / After a thouſand victories once foild, / Is from the booke of honour raſed quite, / And all the reſt forgot for vvhich he toild: […]
ref: 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 25”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC, signature C2, recto:
text: [O]f those Books that passe for authentick who knows what hath bin tamper'd withall, what hath bin raz'd out, what hath bin inserted, […]
ref: 1641 May, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Cavses that hitherto have Hindred it. […], [London]: […] Thomas Vnderhill, →OCLC; republished in Will Taliaferro Hale, editor, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England (Yale Studies in English; LIV), New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1916, →OCLC, page 23:
text: Though we carry a ſimple and ſingle remembrance of our loſſes unto the grave, it being impoſſible to do other-waies (except we raze the faculty of memory Roote and Branch out of our mind) yet let us not keep any record of them with the leaſt reflection of revenge.
ref: 1660, Thomas Fuller, “Name General”, in Mixt Contemplations in Better Times, London: […] R[oger] D[aniel] for Iohn Williams, […], →OCLC, page 17:
text: Though of their Names in heavenly Records novv / Be no memorial, blotted out and ras'd / By thir Rebellion, from the Books of Life.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature B2, verso, lines 361–363:
text: That the right honourable Henry earl of Clarendon, the party promovent, had the originall papers, or some of the original papers, […] and altered the aforesaid originall papers, by razing out many lines, sentences, and words or inserting many lines, sentences and words relating to the character or characters of Edward late earl of Clarendon, without the knowledge or consent of Mr. Wood.
ref: 1693 March 13 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Anthony Wood, “Wood’s Trial for Libel; and Expulsion from the University. [XXII. Wood’s Allegation.]”, in Andrew Clark, editor, The Life and Times of Anthony Wood, Antiquary, of Oxford, 1632–1695, Described by Himself […] (Oxford Historical Society series; XXX), volume IV (Addenda), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Horace Hart] for the Oxford Historical Society at the Clarendon Press, published 1895, →OCLC, pages 18–19:
text: Inſcription is an Obligation made in VVriting, vvhereby the Accuſer binds himſelf to undergo the ſame Puniſhment, if he ſhall not prove the Crime vvhich he objects to the Party accuſed in his accuſatory Libel, […] And if ſuch Articles are not legally inſcrib'd, as aforeſaid, then the Name of the Defendant ſhall be raſed out, and the Defendant ſhall be reſtor'd to his former ſtate of Innocence.
ref: 1726, John Ayliffe, “Of Accusation, and the Course of It”, in Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England. […], London: […] D. Leach, and sold by John Walthoe […], →OCLC, pages 24–25:
text: Our quick-returning Folly cancels all; / As the Tide ruſhing raſes vvhat is vvrit / In yielding Sands, and ſmooths the Letter'd Shore.
ref: 1743, [Edward Young], “Night the Fifth. The Relapse. […]”, in The Complaint. Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality. Night the Fifth, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley […], →OCLC, page 33:
text: Thy goods are confiscate unto the state, / Thy name is razed from out her records, […]
ref: 1821, Lord Byron, Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice. An Historical Tragedy, in Five Acts. […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 151:
text: They were two cousins, almost like two twins, / Except that from the catalogue of sins / Nature had razed their love—which could not be / But by dissevering their nativity.
ref: a. 1823 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “A Fragment”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume IV, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 133:
text: [W]hy makest thou thine own similitude thy mark, and razest out the similitude of God within thee?
ref: 1848, S[aint] Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, “Homily XXIII”, in H[enry] Browne, transl., Homilies on the Gospel according to St. John, and His First Epistle […] (A Library of the Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, anterior to the Division of the East and West), volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: John Henry Parker; London: F[rancis] and J[ohn] Rivington, →OCLC, page 362:
text: We both loved her now and for all time, she was stamped and carven on our hearts, and no other woman or interest could ever raze that splendid die.
ref: 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “What We Saw”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 299:
text: Knit your brows against her; shake your head and raze her name from that catalogue of saints whereon you have inscribed it in anticipation.
ref: 1889, George Gissing, “A Double Consecration”, in The Nether World […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 256:
text: O stiffly shapen houses that change not, / What conjuror's cloth was thrown across you, and raised, / To show you thus transfigured, changed, / Your stuff all gone, your menace almost rased?
ref: 1918, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Suburbs on a Hazy Day”, in New Poems, London: Martin Secker, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 17:
glosses: To erase (a record, text, etc.), originally by scraping; to rub out, to scratch out.
examples: text: [T]he ſvvorde more mercifull then hee to himſelfe, vvith the ſlipping of the pommel, the point ſvvarued, and razed him but vpon the ſide: […]
ref: a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The Thirde Booke] Chapter 24”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC, folio 342, verso:
english: The New Arcadia
translation: The New Arcadia
text: For vvas he not in the neareſt Neighbourhood to Death? And might not the Bullet, that perhaps raſed his Cheek, have as eaſily gone into his Head?
ref: 1685 March 4 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar); first published 1692, Robert South, “A Sermon Preached at Westminster-Abbey, February 22. 168⁴⁄₅.”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], volume I, London: […] J[ohn] H[eptinstall] for Thomas Bennet, […], →OCLC, page 403:
text: I cou'd not bear / To raze thy Skin [with a dagger], to ſave the VVorld from Ruin.
ref: 1719 March 18 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Edward Young, Busiris, King of Egypt. A Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1719, →OCLC, Act V, page 68:
text: Yet did a splinter of his lance / Through Alexander's visor glance, / And razed the skin—a puny wound.
ref: 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Third. The Hostel, or Inn.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza XXVI, page 159:
qualifier: archaic except UK
glosses: To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially; to graze.
examples: text: This indenture is raced all the worlde may ſe it: Ceſte indenture eſt faulcée tout le monde le peult veoyr.
ref: 1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Verbes”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio cccxxxii, recto, column 1; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
text: But I vvill take another order novv, / And race th'eternall Regiſter of time: […]
ref: 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nash[e], The Tragedie of Dido Queene of Carthage: […], London: […] Widdowe Orwin, for Thomas Woodcocke, […], →OCLC, Act III, signature A3, recto:
text: [page 650] A raſing or cancelling of a record by the order of that court, in vvhoſe cuſtody the record is, is no felony in him that doth it, nor in the court that commands it, for the court hath a ſuperintendence, as vvell over the record as over the clerks. […] It muſt be ſuch an embezzelling or avoiding of the record, by reaſon vvhereof a judgment is reverſed, […] [page 651] [I]f A. B. be ſued by the original to the exigent and outlavved, and aftervvard the exigent is made C. B. and the original is alſo made C. B. to make all agree, this is felony as vvell in the clerk that raſeth the original, as him that raſeth the exigent.
ref: a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, “Concerning the New Felonies Enacted in the Times of H[enry] 4. H[enry] 5. H[enry] 6. E[dward] 4.”, in Sollom Emlyn, editor, Historia Placitorum Coronæ: The History of the Pleas of the Crown, […], volume I, In the Savoy [London]: […] E[lizabeth] and R[ichard] Nutt, and R. Gosling (assigns of Edward Sayer, Esq.), for F. Gyles […], T. Woodward […], and C. Davis […], published 1736, →OCLC, pages 650–651:
glosses: To alter (a document) by erasing parts of it.
examples: text: Generally, Barbarous People, that goe Naked, doe not onely paint Themſelues, but they povvnce and raze their Skinne, that the Painting may not be taken forth; And make it into VVorks.
ref: 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “VIII. Century. [Experiment Solitary, Touching Paintings of the Body.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 739, page 191:
text: [Y]ou muſt mark the out-lines of your intended Hinge, […] either vvith Chalk, or elſe raſe upon the Plate vvith the corner of the Cold-Chiſſel, or any other hardned Steel that vvill ſcratch a bright ſtroke upon the Plate: […]
ref: 1678 January 11 – February 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] II. Applied to the Making of Hinges, Locks, Keys, Screws and Nuts Small and Great.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1683, →OCLC, page 17:
text: This vvas the heart thou piercedſt, theſe are the vvounds thou razedſt, and this is the blood thou ſpilledſt: […]
ref: 1759, Isaac Ambrose, “Dooms-day”, in The Compleat Works of that Eminent Minister of God’s Word Mr. Isaac Ambrose, […], Dundee, Scotland: […] Henry Galbraith and Company, →OCLC, page 304, column 1:
glosses: To carve (a line, mark, etc.) into something; to incise, to inscribe; also, to carve lines, marks, etc., into (something); to engrave.
glosses: To remove (something) by scraping; also, to cut or shave (something) off.
examples: text: And novv [the Rhine] by this time augmented vvith ſnovv, melted and reſolved into vvater, and raſing as it goes the high bankes vvith their curving reaches, entreth into a round and vaſt lake (vvhich the Rhætians dvvelling thereby, call Brigantia) […]
ref: 1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, “[The XV. Booke.] Chapter III. Warre against the Lentienses, a People of Alemaine. The Description of the Lake Brigantia. The Romane Armie Discomfited and Put to Flight, having within a while after Vanquished the Alemans, Returned to Millaine, there to Winter.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Roman Historie, […], London: […] Adam Jslip, →OCLC, page 33:
text: Sometimes, his feet raſed the ſurface of the water; and, at others, the ſkylight almoſt flattened his noſe.
ref: 1786, [William Beckford], translated by [Samuel Henley], An Arabian Tale, from an Unpublished Manuscript: […] [Vathek], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 103:
english: Vathek
translation: Vathek
glosses: To rub lightly along the surface of (something); brush against, to graze.
examples: text: And you are a ſoule, ſo vvhite, and ſo chaſte, / A table ſo ſmooth, and ſo nevvly ra'ſte, / As nothing cald foule, / Dare approach vvith a blot, / Or any leaſt ſpot; […]
ref: 1621 August 13 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Ben Jonson, “The Masque of the Gypsies”, in Q. Horatius Flaccus: His Art of Poetry. […], London: […] J[ohn] Okes, for John Benson […], published 1640, →OCLC, page 65:
glosses: To scrape (something), with or as if with a razor, to remove things from its surface; also, to reduce (something) to small pieces by scraping; to grate.
examples: text: [A] ſharpe worde moued thée, when other whiles a ſworde will not, then a friendly checke killeth thée, when a raſor cannot raſe thée.
ref: 1580, Iohn Lyly [i.e., John Lyly], “Euphues to Him, that was His Philautus”, in Euphues and His England. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 82, verso:
text: Do you fancy him retir'd that […] conſumes his time trifling amongſt Barbers, razing and ſprucing himſelf, Povvdering, Combing, and ſummoning a Council upon every Hair?
ref: 1667, J[ohn] Evelyn, Publick Employment and an Active Life, with Its Appanages, such as Fame, Command, Riches, Conversation, &c. Preferred to Solitude: […], London: […] J. M. for H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC, pages 95–96:
glosses: To shave (someone or part of their body) with a razor, etc.
examples: text: Buckles and agglettes at vnwares, ſhall race his bowe, a thinge both euill for the fight, ⁊ perillous for freatinge.
ref: 1545, Roger Ascham, “The Seconde Booke”, in Toxophilus, the Schole, or Partitions of Shooting […], [new] edition, London: […] Thomas Marshe, published 1571, →OCLC, folio 38, recto:
text: His death did raze hir heart.
ref: 1569 (date written), [Giovanni Boccaccio], “The Tenth Historie”, in Tragicall Tales […], London: […] Abell Ieffs, […], published 1587, →OCLC, folio 140, recto:
text: Dravv forth thy ſvvord, thou mightie man at armes, / Intending but to raiſe my charmed ſkin: / And Ioue himſelfe vvill ſtretch his hand from heauen, / To vvard the blovv, and ſhield me ſafe from harme, […]
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
text: Paine in a horſſes teeth commeth either from pride and corruption of blood, or els from cold rhums, […] the cure is, vvith a ſharp knife to race him alongſt his gummes, cloſe vnder his teeth, both of the inſide and outſide: and then to rubbe them all ouer, either vvith pepper & ſalt vvel mingled together, or vvith claret vvine and pepper heated vpon the fire, […]
ref: 1607, Gervase Markham, “Of Paine in the Teeth, and of the Woolfes”, in Cauelarice, or The English Horseman: […], London: […] [Edward Allde and W[illiam] Jaggard] for Edward White, […], →OCLC, 7th book, page 54:
text: Againe, a horſe vvill haue great paine in his teeth vvhen his vpper iavv teeth be ſo farre grovvne as they ouer-hang the neather iavv teeth; and therevvith alſo be ſo ſharpe, as in mouing his iavves they cut and raze the inſides of his cheekes, euen as they vvere razed vvith a knife.
ref: 1610, Gervase Markham, “Of Paine in a Horses Teeth, of Woolfes Teeth and Iaw Teeth”, in Markhams Maister-peece. Or, What doth a Horse-man Lacke. Containing All Possible Knowledge whatsoeuer which doth Belong to any Smith, Farrier, or Horse-leech, Touching the Curing of All Manner of Diseases or Sorrances in Horses; […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson, […], →OCLC, 2nd book (Containing All Cures Chyrurgicall, […]), page 266:
text: Then File one edge very ſtraight by laying a ſtraight Ruler juſt vvithin the edge of it, and dravving or raceing vvith a point of hardned Steel a bright line by the ſide of the Ruler: […]
ref: 1678 January 11 – February 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] II. Applied to the Making of Hinges, Locks, Keys, Screws and Nuts Small and Great. Of Locks and Keys.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1683, →OCLC, page 19:
text: VVheels o'er the harden'd VVaters ſmoothly glide, / And raſe vvith vvhiten'd Tracks the ſlipp'ry Tide.
ref: [1716], [John] Gay, “Book II. Of Walking the Streets by Day.”, in Trivia: Or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London, London: […] Bernard Lintott, […], →OCLC, page 36:
glosses: To cut, scratch, or tear (someone or something) with a sharp object; to lacerate, to slash.
glosses: To carve lines, marks, etc., into something.
examples: text: Betwene theſe Ilandes and the continente, he entered into ſoo narowe ſtreyghtes, that he coulde ſcarſely turne backe the ſhippes: And theſe alſo ſo ſhalowe, that the keele of the ſhyps ſumtyme raſed on the ſandes.
ref: 1555, Peter Martyr of Angleria [i.e., Peter Martyr d’Anghiera], “The Thyrde Booke of the Fyrst Decade, to Lodouike Cardinall of Aragonye and Neuie to the Kynge”, in Rycharde Eden [i.e., Richard Eden], transl., The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India, […], London: […] [Rycharde Jug for] Guilhelmi Powell, →OCLC, 1st decade, folio 15, verso:
text: Rádere, […] to raze or go along the ſhore as a ſhip doth, or to flye leuell to the ground as ſome birds do.
ref: 1598, John Florio, “Rádere”, in A Worlde of Words, or Most Copious, and Exact Dictionarie in Italian and English, […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield for Edw[ard] Blount, →OCLC, page 308, column 1:
glosses: To graze or rub lightly along a surface.
examples: text: [O]ne Robert Dutch of Ipſvvith, having been ſorely vvounded by a Bullet that raſed to his skull, and then mauled by the Indian Hatchets, left for dead by the Salvages,^([sic – meaning Savages]) and ſtript by them of all but his skin; […]
ref: 1677, W[illiam] Hubbard, The Present State of New-England. Being a Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New England, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Parkhurst […], →OCLC, page 39:
glosses: To penetrate through something; to pierce.
glosses: Of a horse: to wear down its corner teeth as it ages, losing the black marks in their crevices.
Related terms: razor