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Added 9 October 2026

shave

/ˈʃeɪ̯v/ verb

In Latin: abrādō, rādō, tondeō Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about shave at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To make (the head, skin etc.) bald or (the hair) shorter by using a tool such as a razor or electric clippers to cut the hair close to the skin.
To cut anything in this fashion.
To remove hair from one's face by this means.
I had little time to shave this morning.

noun

An instance of shaving.
I instructed the barber to give me a shave.
A thin slice; a shaving.
An exorbitant discount on a note.

Origin

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”.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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