shave
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To make bald or shorter by using a tool such as a razor or electric clippers to cut the hair close to the skin.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
shayvIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈʃeɪv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
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.
Remove body hair with a razor
intransitive
To remove hair from one's face by this means.
transitive
To cut anything in this fashion.
To skim along or near the surface of; to pass close to, or touch lightly, in passing.
“His back shaved the counter in passing.”
Cut the price of
noun
An instance of shaving.
A thin slice; a shaving.
A hand tool, mainly for woodworking, consisting of a sharp blade with a handle at each end.
informal
A narrow miss or escape; a close shave.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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.
Used this way, shave is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use shave
- “His back shaved the counter in passing.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Having the beard or hair cut off close to the skin.
The act of removing hair with a razor.
An adult male who shaves.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Toiletry consisting of a preparation of soap and fatty acids that forms a rich lather for softening the beard before shaving.
A brush used to apply lather prior to shaving.
Tree of Mexico to Guatemala having densely hairy flowers with long narrow petals clustered at ends of branches before leaves appear.
Toiletry consisting of a preparation of soap and fatty acids that forms a rich lather for softening the beard before shaving.
Toiletry consisting of a liquid preparation containing many small bubbles that soften the beard before shaving.
A razor powered by an electric motor.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.