Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Shave

Shave (shāv), obs. p. p. of Shave. Chaucer.

His beard was shave as nigh as ever he can. Chaucer.

Shave, v. t. [imp. Shaved;p. p. Shaved or Shaven; p. pr. & vb. n. Shaving.] [OE. shaven, schaven, AS. scafan, sceafan; akin to D. schaven, G. schaben, Icel. skafa, Sw. skafva, Dan. skave, Goth. scaban, Russ. kopate to dig, Gr. σκάπτειν, and probably to L. scabere to scratch, to scrape. Cf. Scab, Shaft, Shape.] 1. To cut or pare off from the surface of a body with a razor or other edged instrument; to cut off closely, as with a razor; as, to shave the beard.

2. To make bare or smooth by cutting off closely the surface, or surface covering, of; especially, to remove the hair from with a razor or other sharp instrument; to take off the beard or hair of; as, to shave the face or the crown of the head; he shaved himself.

I'll shave your crown for this. Shak.

The laborer with the bending scythe is seen Shaving the surface of the waving green. Gay.

3. To cut off thin slices from; to cut in thin slices.

Plants bruised or shaven in leaf or root. Bacon.

4. To skim along or near the surface of; to pass close to, or touch lightly, in passing.

Now shaves with level wing the deep. Milton.

5. To strip; to plunder; to fleece. [Colloq.]

To shave a note, to buy it at a discount greater than the legal rate of interest, or to deduct in discounting it more than the legal rate allows. [Cant, U.S.]

Shave (shāv), v. i. To use a razor for removing the beard; to cut closely; hence, to be hard and severe in a bargain; to practice extortion; to cheat.

Shave (shāv), n. [AS. scafa, sceafa, a sort of knife. See Shave, v. t.] 1. A thin slice; a shaving. Wright.

2. A cutting of the beard; the operation of shaving.

3. (a) An exorbitant discount on a note. [Cant, U.S.] (b) A premium paid for an extension of the time of delivery or payment, or for the right to vary a stock contract in any particular. [Cant, U.S.] N. Biddle.

4. A hand tool consisting of a sharp blade with a handle at each end; a drawing knife; a spokeshave.

5. The act of passing very near to, so as almost to graze; as, the bullet missed by a close shave. [Colloq.]

Shave grass (Bot.), the scouring rush. See the Note under Equisetum. — Shave hook, a tool for scraping metals, consisting of a sharp-edged triangular steel plate attached to a shank and handle.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.