raze
To level or tear down to the groundTo level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.
Recorded: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
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!
Meaning
15 senses(transitive)To level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.
schleifen
разрушать до основанияrazrušatʹ do osnovanija
tear down so as to make flat with the ground
(figuratively, transitive)To completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.; also, to remove from existence; to destroy, to obliterate.
(also, figuratively, transitive)To erase (a record, text, etc.), originally by scraping; to rub out, to scratch out.
More meanings 12
(regional, transitive)To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially; to graze.
(obsolete, transitive)To alter (a document) by erasing parts of it.
(obsolete, transitive)To carve (a line, mark, etc.) into something; to incise, to inscribe; also, to carve lines, marks, etc., into (something); to engrave.
(obsolete, transitive)To remove (something) by scraping; also, to cut or shave (something) off.
(obsolete, transitive)To rub lightly along the surface of (something); brush against, to graze.
(obsolete, transitive)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.
(obsolete, transitive)To shave (someone or part of their body) with a razor, etc.
(also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To cut, scratch, or tear (someone or something) with a sharp object; to lacerate, to slash.
(intransitive, obsolete)To carve lines, marks, etc., into something.
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).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
razes, razing, razed, razedTenses
raze · razed · will raze · have razedSynonyms
56 synonymsWord family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.