raze

Plural: razes

Verb

Verb Forms: razed, razing, razes

To completely tear down or demolish a building or structure.
tear down so as to make flat with the ground
To level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.
To completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.; also, to remove from existence; to destroy, to obliterate.
To erase (a record, text, etc.), originally by scraping; to rub out, to scratch out.
To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially; to graze.
To alter (a document) by erasing parts of it.
To carve (a line, mark, etc.) into something; to incise, to inscribe; also, to carve lines, marks, etc., into (something); to engrave.
To remove (something) by scraping; also, to cut or shave (something) off.
To rub lightly along the surface of (something); brush against, to graze.
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.
To shave (someone or part of their body) with a razor, etc.
To cut, scratch, or tear (someone or something) with a sharp object; to lacerate, to slash.
To carve lines, marks, etc., into something.
To graze or rub lightly along a surface.
To penetrate through something; to pierce.
Of a horse: to wear down its corner teeth as it ages, losing the black marks in their crevices.

Noun

A slight wound; a scratch; also, a cut, a slit.
Obsolete spelling of race (“rhizome of ginger”).
A swinging fence in a watercourse to prevent cattle passing through.

Examples

His opponent tried to RAZE his hopes by challenging every single word.

Origin / Etymology

The 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).
The noun is derived from the verb.

Synonyms

dismantle, level, pull down, rase, take down, tear down, aerosolize, annihilate, atomize, benothing, bewreck, blot out, blotto, dash, decompose, demolish, desolate, destroy, devastate, diffuse, disintegrate, disperse, dissolve, eliminate, eradicate, erase, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, fuck, harry, jazz, lay waste, liquidate, nuke, obliterate, pulverize, race, ravage, raze, remove, ruin, stamp out, total, unbreed, unexist, unmake, uproot, waste, wipe off, wipe out, wreck

Antonyms

raise

Scrabble Score: 13

raze: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
raze: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
raze: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 13

raze: valid Words With Friends Word