From Late Middle English rasen, rasyn (“to rage; to enrage (?)”), probably from Middle Dutch râsen, râzen (“to be extremely angry, rage; to be mad, rave; to talk nonsense; of a dog: to be rabid”), from Old Dutch *rāson (modern Dutch razen), from Proto-West Germanic *rāsōn (“to rush”), Proto-Germanic *rēsōną (“to rush”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁s- (“to flow; to rush”).
cognates
* Swedish rasa (“rage”)
Meanings
(archaic, intransitive) To be extremely angry; to rage; specifically, of a dog or wolf: to snarl in rage.
[T]he ſtones did ſeem / Too roare and bellow hoarce: and doggs too howle and raze extréeme: […] 1567, Ovid, “The Fourteenth Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 179, recto:
So up & down that critic rased / & back & foorth he foyned & trased / & monstrous strookes deliverd; […] a. 1896 (date written), Eugene Field, “The Tragedie of Elaine”, in The Clink of the Ice and Other Poems Worth Reading, Chicago, Ill.: M. A. Donohue & Co., published 1905, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 131:
[T]his Night / He dreamt, the Bore had raſed off his Helme: […] c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 187, column 2:
But doom the arm that perils not / In beauty's quarrel, every vein / That runs with ruddy drops, to rot / Beneath a taunting chain, / And that ignoblest hands should rase / The crest and spur from one so base. 1820, J[eremiah] H[olmes] Wiffen, “The Captive of Stamboul”, in Julia Alpinula; with The Captive of Stamboul and Other Poems, London: John Warren, […], →OCLC, canto I, stanza XIII, page 111, lines 357–362:
A variant of raze, from Middle English rasen: see further at raze.
Meanings
(obsolete) An act of cutting, scraping, or scratching; also, an erasure.
Perceaue vve not hovv they vvhoſe tenderneſſe ſhrinketh at the leaſt raſe of a needles point, do kiſſe the ſvvord that pearceth their ſoules quite through? a. 1601 (date written), Richard Hooker, A Remedie against Sorrow and Feare, Delivered in a Funerall Sermon, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold by John Barnes […], published 1612, →OCLC, page 9:
And did the Villaines lay ſuch load on, and yet ſet ſo light by my Sauiours [Jesus's] ſtripes; the drops of vvhoſe blood, the raſe of vvhoſe skinne, skarres of vvhoſe fleſh, ach of vvhoſe finger, vvas more then the torment of their vvretched Bodyes, and loſſe of their damned Soules? 1629, John Gaule, “Practique Theories: Or, Votiue Speculations vpon Christ’s Passion”, in Practique Theories: Or, Votiue Speculations, vpon Iesus Christs Prediction. Incarnation. Passion. Resurrection. […], London: […] [Thomas Cotes] for James Bowler […], →OCLC, page 266:
Raſe a ſcrapyng [1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Substantyues”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio lviii, recto, column 2; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
(alt-of, alternative, obsolete) Alternative spelling of raze (“a slight wound; a scratch; also, a cut, a slit”).
And verely the Emperour Nero vvas ſo greatly enamoured vpon one image of Alexander [the Great], that hee commaunded it to be guilded all over: but aftervvards, ſeeing that the more coſt vvas beſtovved upon it by laying on gold, the leſſe vvas the art ſeene of the firſt vvorkman [Lysippos], ſo that it loſt all the beautie and grace that it had by that means, he cauſed the gold to be taken off againe: and verely, the ſaid image thus unguilded as it vvas, ſeemed farre more precious than it vvas vvhiles it ſtood ſo enriched vvith gold, notvvithſtanding all the hackes, cuts, gaſhes, and raſes all over the bodie vvherein the gold did ſticke, remained ſtill, vvhich in ſome ſort might disfigure it. 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXIV.] Of 366 Excellent Peeces of Worke in Brasse, and as Many Cunning Artificers in that Kind.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 499:
[T]ake the Cold-Chiſſel in your left hand, and ſet the edge of it upon that mark or raſe, and vvith the Hand Hammer in your right hand ſtrike upon the Head of the Cold-Chiſſel, till you cut, or rather punch the edge of the Cold-Chiſſel almoſt through the Plate in that place: […] 1678 January 11 – February 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] II. Applied to the Making of Hinges, Locks, Keys, Screws and Nuts Small and Great. Of Hinges.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1683, →OCLC, page 17:
[T]he fire-dragon
had rased the coastal region and reduced
forts and earthworks to dust and ashes,
so the war-king planned and plotted his revenge. 1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 74:
(transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.
[A]fter they had deſtroyed Religion, they pulled dovvn Churches, (as being then of no Uſe) and raſed the nobleſt Structures in the Land, to ſell the Materials; […] 1659, Samuel Butler, “Two Speeches Made in the Rump-Parliament, when It was Restor’d by the Officers of the Army in the Year 1659”, in R[obert] Thyer, editor, The Genuine Remains in Verse and Prose of Mr. Samuel Butler, […], volume I, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1759, →OCLC, page 302:
Thou vvoundeſt the Head of the Houſe of the VVicked; / Thou raſedſt the Foundation even to the Rock; / Thou piercedſt thro' vvith thy Scepter the Head of the Villages. 1755, William Green, “A New Version of the Third Chapter of Habakkuk”, in A New Translation of the Prayer of Habakkuk, the Prayer of Moses, and the CXXXIX Psalm; […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] J[oseph] Bentham, printer to the University; [s]old by T. Merrill […], →OCLC, verse 18, page 10:
Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jeruſalem; who ſayd, raſe it, raſe it: euen to the foundation thereof. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalm 137:7, signature Hhh2, verso, column 2:
The fortreſſe was raſed and beaten downe to the erthe⸝ whiche had coſt moche the makynge therof: […] 1523 February 7 (Gregorian calendar), Johan Froyssart [i.e., Jean Froissart], “Howe the Frẽche Kyng Sent a Great Nauy to the See⸝ ⁊ howe Duyers Townes were Brent in Englande: ⁊ howe the Duke of Burgoyne Tooke Dyuers Castels about Calys”, in Here Begynneth the First Volum of Sir Johan Froyssart: Of the Cronycles of Englande⸝ Fraunce⸝ Spayne⸝ Portyngale⸝ Scotlande⸝ Bretayne⸝ Flañders: And Other Places Adioynynge. […], 1st volume, London: […] Richarde Pynson⸝ […], →OCLC; reprinted as The First Volum of Sir Johan Froyssart of the Chronycles of Englande⸝ Fraunce⸝ Spayne (The English Experience […]; no. 257), Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum; New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, 1970, →ISBN, folio cxcvii, verso, column 1:
(figuratively, transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.; also, to remove from existence; to destroy, to obliterate.
It is true, the Devil did not immediately raſe out the Notion of Religion and of a God from the Minds of Men, […] 1726, [Daniel Defoe], “Of the Devil’s Second Kingdom, and How He Got Footing in the Renew’d World by His Victory over Noah and His Race”, in The Political History of the Devil, as well Ancient as Modern: […], London: […] T. Warner, […], →OCLC, part I, page 156:
(also, figuratively, transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To erase (a record, text, etc.), originally by scraping; to rub out, to scratch out.
Though of their Names in heavenly Records novv / Be no memorial, blotted out and ras'd / By thir Rebellion, from the Books of Life. 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature B2, verso, lines 361–363:
Our quick-returning Folly cancels all; / As the Tide ruſhing raſes vvhat is vvrit / In yielding Sands, and ſmooths the Letter'd Shore. 1743, [Edward Young], “Night the Fifth. The Relapse. […]”, in The Complaint. Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality. Night the Fifth, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley […], and sold by M[ary] Cooper […], →OCLC, page 33:
O stiffly shapen houses that change not, / What conjuror's cloth was thrown across you, and raised, / To show you thus transfigured, changed, / Your stuff all gone, your menace almost rased? 1918, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Suburbs on a Hazy Day”, in New Poems, London: Martin Secker, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 17:
[N]o malice of ſucceeding daies, / can raſe thoſe records of thy laſting praiſe. 1595, G. W. I[unior], “[Dedicatory poem]”, in Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, signature [¶4], recto:
The painefull vvarrier famoſed for vvorth, / After a thouſand victories once foild, / Is from the booke of honour raſed quite, / And all the reſt forgot for vvhich he toild: […] 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 25”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC, signature C2, recto:
Suppleyng to Fame, I besought her grace, / And that it wolde please her, full tenderly I prayd, / Owt of her bokis Apollo to rase. 1523, John Skelton, “A Ryght Delectable Tratyse vpon a Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 420, lines 1478–1480:
Inſcription is an Obligation made in VVriting, vvhereby the Accuſer binds himſelf to undergo the ſame Puniſhment, if he ſhall not prove the Crime vvhich he objects to the Party accuſed in his accuſatory Libel, […] And if ſuch Articles are not legally inſcrib'd, as aforeſaid, then the Name of the Defendant ſhall be raſed out, and the Defendant ſhall be reſtor'd to his former ſtate of Innocence. 1726, John Ayliffe, “Of Accusation, and the Course of It”, in Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England. […], London: […] D. Leach, and sold by John Walthoe […], →OCLC, pages 24–25:
They were two cousins, almost like two twins, / Except that from the catalogue of sins / Nature had rased their love, which could not be / But by dissevering their nativity. a. 1823 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Fiordispina”, in William Michael Rossetti, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley: […], revised edition, volume II, London: E[dward] Moxon, Son, & Co., […], published 1870, →OCLC, pages 339–340:
(qualifier:archaic except UK, regional, transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially; to graze.
For vvas he not in the neareſt Neighbourhood to Death? And might not the Bullet, that perhaps raſed his Cheek, have as eaſily gone into his Head? 1685 March 3 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar); first published 1692, Robert South, “A Sermon Preached at Westminster-Abbey, February 22. 168⁴⁄₅.”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], volume I, London: […] J[ohn] H[eptinstall] for Thomas Bennet, […], →OCLC, page 403:
(obsolete, transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To alter (a document) by erasing parts of it.
[page 650] A raſing or cancelling of a record by the order of that court, in vvhoſe cuſtody the record is, is no felony in him that doth it, nor in the court that commands it, for the court hath a ſuperintendence, as vvell over the record as over the clerks. […] It muſt be ſuch an embezzelling or avoiding of the record, by reaſon vvhereof a judgment is reverſed, […] [page 651] [I]f A. B. be ſued by the original to the exigent and outlavved, and aftervvard the exigent is made C. B. and the original is alſo made C. B. to make all agree, this is felony as vvell in the clerk that raſeth the original, as him that raſeth the exigent. a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, “Concerning the New Felonies Enacted in the Times of H[enry] 4. H[enry] 5. H[enry] 6. E[dward] 4.”, in Sollom Emlyn, editor, Historia Placitorum Coronæ: The History of the Pleas of the Crown, […], volume I, In the Savoy [London]: […] E[lizabeth] and R[ichard] Nutt, and R. Gosling (assigns of Edward Sayer, Esq.), for F. Gyles […], T. Woodward […], and C. Davis […], published 1736, →OCLC, pages 650–651:
(obsolete, transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To carve (a line, mark, etc.) into something; to incise, to inscribe; also, to carve lines, marks, etc., into (something); to engrave.
[Y]ou muſt mark the out-lines of your intended Hinge, […] either vvith Chalk, or elſe raſe upon the Plate vvith the corner of the Cold-Chiſſel, or any other hardned Steel that vvill ſcratch a bright ſtroke upon the Plate: […] 1678 January 11 – February 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] II. Applied to the Making of Hinges, Locks, Keys, Screws and Nuts Small and Great.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1683, →OCLC, page 17:
(obsolete, transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To remove (something) by scraping; also, to cut or shave (something) off.
(obsolete, transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To rub lightly along the surface of (something); brush against, to graze.
Sometimes, his feet raſed the ſurface of the water; and, at others, the ſkylight almoſt flattened his noſe. 1786, [William Beckford], translated by [Samuel Henley], An Arabian Tale, from an Unpublished Manuscript: […] [Vathek], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 103:
And novv [the Rhine] by this time augmented vvith ſnovv, melted and reſolved into vvater, and raſing as it goes the high bankes vvith their curving reaches, entreth into a round and vaſt lake (vvhich the Rhætians dvvelling thereby, call Brigantia) […] 1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, “[The XV. Booke.] Chapter III. Warre against the Lentienses, a People of Alemaine. The Description of the Lake Brigantia. The Romane Armie Discomfited and Put to Flight, having within a while after Vanquished the Alemans, Returned to Millaine, there to Winter.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Roman Historie, […], London: […] Adam Jslip, →OCLC, page 33:
(obsolete, transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To scrape (something) to remove things from its surface; also, to reduce (something) to small pieces by scraping; to grate.
And you are a ſoule, ſo vvhite, and ſo chaſte, / A table ſo ſmooth, and ſo nevvly ra'ſte, / As nothing cald foule, / Dare approach vvith a blot, / Or any leaſt ſpot; […] 1621 August 13 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Ben Jonson, “The Masque of the Gypsies”, in Q. Horatius Flaccus: His Art of Poetry. […], London: […] J[ohn] Okes, for John Benson […], published 1640, →OCLC, page 65:
(obsolete, transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To shave (someone or part of their body) with a razor, etc.
[A] ſharpe worde moued thée, when other whiles a ſworde will not, then a friendly checke killeth thée, when a raſor cannot raſe thée. 1580, Iohn Lyly [i.e., John Lyly], “Euphues to Him, that was His Philautus”, in Euphues and His England. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 82, verso:
(also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To cut, scratch, or tear (someone or something) with a sharp object; to lacerate, to slash.
VVheels o'er the harden'd VVaters ſmoothly glide, / And raſe vvith vvhiten'd Tracks the ſlipp'ry Tide. [1716], [John] Gay, “Book II. Of Walking the Streets by Day.”, in Trivia: Or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London, London: […] Bernard Lintott, […], →OCLC, page 36:
Dravv forth thy ſvvord, thou mightie man at armes, / Intending but to raiſe my charmed ſkin: / And Ioue himſelfe vvill ſtretch his hand from heauen, / To vvard the blovv, and ſhield me ſafe from harme, […] c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
(intransitive, obsolete) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To carve lines, marks, etc., into something.
(intransitive, obsolete) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To graze or rub lightly along a surface.
Betwene theſe Ilandes and the continente, he entered into ſoo narowe ſtreyghtes, that he coulde ſcarſely turne backe the ſhippes: And theſe alſo ſo ſhalowe, that the keele of the ſhyps ſumtyme raſed on the ſandes. 1555, Peter Martyr of Angleria [i.e., Peter Martyr d’Anghiera], “The Thyrde Booke of the Fyrst Decade, to Lodouike Cardinall of Aragonye and Neuie to the Kynge”, in Rycharde Eden [i.e., Richard Eden], transl., The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India, […], London: […] [Rycharde Jug for] Guilhelmi Powell, →OCLC, 1st decade, folio 15, verso:
(intransitive, obsolete) Alternative spelling of raze. ▸ To penetrate through something; to pierce.
[O]ne Robert Dutch of Ipſvvith, having been ſorely vvounded by a Bullet that raſed to his skull, and then mauled by the Indian Hatchets, left for dead by the Salvages,^([sic – meaning Savages]) and ſtript by them of all but his skin; […] 1677, W[illiam] Hubbard, The Present State of New-England. Being a Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New England, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Parkhurst […], →OCLC, page 39:
Probably either:
* from Late Latin rāsum (neuter), rāsa (“level measure of grain”, feminine), a noun use of Latin rāsus (“scraped; shaved”, masculine), the perfect passive participle of rādō (“to scrape; to scratch; to shave; to touch upon, graze”), from Proto-Italic *razdō, further etymology unknown; or
* from Anglo-Norman rase (“level measure of grain”), from Latin rāsus (see above).
Meanings
(obsolete, rare) A measure in which the commodity assessed is made level with the top of the measuring vessel rather than heaped above it.
Toll ſhall be taken by the Raſe, and not by the Heap or Cantel. Ordinance for Bakers, Brevvers, &c. cap. 4. it ſeems to have been a meaſure of Corn, novv diſuſed 1670, Thomas Blount, “Rase”, in Νομο-λεξικον [Nomo-lexikon]: A Law-dictionary. […], In the Savoy [London]: […] Tho[mas] Newcomb, for John Martin and Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, signature [Hhh2], recto, column 1:
From rase, race (“(usually white) marking on the head of an animal, chiefly a horse”); further etymology uncertain, possibly a specific use of race (“(obsolete) mark; cut, scratch”, noun), from race (“to cut, slash; to scratch; to tear”) (southwest England), a variant of raze.
Meanings
(intransitive, obsolete, rare) Of a natural marking on the head of an animal (chiefly a horse): to extend down the head.