Library / English Dictionary

SHAVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: shaven   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of removing hair with a razor

Synonyms:

shave; shaving

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("shave" is a kind of...):

depilation; epilation (the act of removing hair (as from an animal skin))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shave"):

tonsure (shaving the crown of the head by priests or members of a monastic order)

Derivation:

shave (remove body hair with a razor)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove body hair with a razor

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "shave" is one way to...):

groom; neaten (care for one's external appearance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shave"):

razor (shave with a razor)

tonsure (shave the head of a newly inducted monk)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They shave their hair

Derivation:

shave (the act of removing hair with a razor)

shaver (a razor powered by an electric motor)

shaver (an adult male who shaves)

shaving (the act of removing hair with a razor)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Touch the surface of lightly

Example:

His back shaved the counter in passing

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "shave" is one way to...):

crease; graze; rake (scrape gently)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shave"):

skive (remove the surface of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

shaving (the act of brushing against while passing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cut closely

Example:

trim my beard

Synonyms:

shave; trim

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "shave" is one way to...):

cut (shorten as if by severing the edges or ends of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shave"):

fleece; shear (shear the wool from)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They shave their hair

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make shavings of or reduce to shavings

Example:

shave the radish

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "shave" is one way to...):

carve; cut up (cut to pieces)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The chefs shave the vegetables

Derivation:

shaving (a thin fragment or slice (especially of wood) that has been shaved from something)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Cut or remove with or as if with a plane

Example:

The machine shaved off fine layers from the piece of wood

Synonyms:

plane; shave

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "shave" is one way to...):

cut (separate with or as if with an instrument)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Cut the price of

Synonyms:

knock off; shave

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "shave" is one way to...):

bring down; cut; cut back; cut down; reduce; trim; trim back; trim down (cut down on; make a reduction in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shave"):

mark down (reduce the price of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

I should say that only a clean-shaven man could have smoked this.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He is a big, powerful chap, clean-shaven, and very swarthy— something like Aldridge, who helped us in the bogus laundry affair.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He said, shaking hands with me, “Copperfield, you are a true friend; but when the worst comes to the worst, no man is without a friend who is possessed of shaving materials.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Well, then, my first commandment is, Thou shalt not omit to shave every day.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The dog-musher wore a moustache, but the other, a taller and younger man, was smooth- shaven, his skin rosy from the pounding of his blood and the running in the frosty air.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Scale (PDQUALIF) In the past 7 days, in my personal hygiene (bathing, hair care, make up, shaving or toileting), I have been independent.

(PDQUALIF - Independent Hygiene in Past 7 Days, NCI Thesaurus)

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.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

To my childish imagination it was a personal affair, and I for ever saw my father and this clean-shaven, thin-lipped man swaying and reeling in a deadly, year-long grapple.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So I got Sophy to lend me a hand, and we soon shifted their quarters; and now I am quite snug, with my little shaving glass in one corner, and another great thing that I never go near.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I think I was a good, prompt subaltern, and I am very sure that Hands was an excellent pilot, for we went about and about and dodged in, shaving the banks, with a certainty and a neatness that were a pleasure to behold.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)