shave

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To cut hair very close to the skin, especially from the face, using a razor.

   He shaves every morning before going to work.

2. 2
   verb

   To cut a thin layer off the surface of something.

   The carpenter shaved a thin slice off the edge of the door so it would close.

3. 3
   verb

   To reduce something slightly in amount, size, or time.

   The new route shaved ten minutes off her morning commute.

4. 4
   verb

   To pass very close to a surface, almost touching it.

   The bird shaved the surface of the lake as it flew.

Inherited from Middle English shaven, schaven, from Old English sċafan (“to shave, scrape, shred, polish”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaban, from Proto-Germanic *skabaną (“to scrape”), from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to cut, split, form, carve”). Cognate with West Frisian skave, Dutch schaven, Low German schaven, German schaben, Danish skave, Norwegian Nynorsk skava, Swedish skava, Icelandic skafa, Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (skaban), all roughly “to scrape, chafe, shave, plane, remove the outer lay of”.

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