Meaning
2 sensesA swinging fence in a watercourse to prevent cattle passing through.
(obsolete)A slight wound; a scratch; also, a cut, a slit.
Examples
4 sentencesHe told his men not to raze the city.
The conflagration, abetted by fuel that residents stored in their domiciles, razed tin-roofed shacks.
deDie Feuersbrunst, begünstigt durch Brennstoff, den Bewohner bei sich lagerten, machte zinngedeckte Hütten dem Erdboden gleich. — Yorwba · CC BY 2.0 FR
I will raze your home!
The planet Earth seems to be destined to undergo a tremendous nuclear explosion that will raze it to the ground.
Origin
The verb is derived from Middle English rasen, racen, rase (“to scrape; to shave; to eraseThe 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).
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