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\ ˈshāv 
\
\shaved; shaved or shaven\ ˈshā-vən \; shaving
\; shavingDefinition of shave
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a : to remove a thin layer from
b : to cut off in thin layers or shreds : slice
c : to cut off closely
2a : to sever the hair from (the head or another part of the body) close to the roots
b : to cut off (hair or beard) close to the skin
3a : to discount (a note) at an exorbitant rate
c : to conspire to score fewer (points) than one is capable of (as to affect gambling outcomes)
4 : to come close to or touch lightly in passing
1 : to cut off hair or beard close to the skin
2 : to proceed with difficulty : scrape
shave
nounDefinition of shave (Entry 2 of 2)
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Examples of shave in a Sentence
Verb
She cut herself while shaving her legs.
The sheep were all shaved.
He shaves every morning before breakfast.
I cut myself shaving this morning.
She shaves her dog's fur in the summer.
He shaved some butter from the container.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The Huskies ended up cutting four as part of a plan to shave about $10 million of an annual university subsidy of about $40 million.
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Mike Anthony, courant.com, "Mike Anthony: Looking at a pandemic world and a sports world with a look at my email inbox," 9 Aug. 2020 During the last days of hajj, male pilgrims shave their heads and remove the terrycloth white garments worn during the pilgrimage.
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Aya Batrawy, Star Tribune, "Final days of hajj and Eid festival impacted by coronavirus," 31 July 2020 Dear Gone: If your coach also insisted that the male volleyball or basketball players must shave their underarms and legs, then perhaps this wouldn’t qualify as discrimination.
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Amy Dickinson, The Denver Post, "Ask Amy: My volleyball coach won’t let me play unless I shave my underarms and legs," 10 Mar. 2020 Using the most up-to-date systems can shave off weight and save room on board the spacecraft.
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Smithsonian Magazine, "Astronomers Prepare a Mission Concept to Explore the Ice Giant Planets," 8 Jan. 2020 Tommy Johnson finally decided to shave his beard a week ago.
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Michael Mccleary, The Indianapolis Star, "Tommy Johnson earns No. 1 Funny Car qualifying spot, Tony Schumacher qualifies in NHRA return," 11 July 2020 Berkeley would freeze vacancies and shave down overtime to extract the money, then spend it on new programs, such as an African-American Holistic Resource Center.
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Rachel Swan, SFChronicle.com, "The future of Bay Area policing is coming into focus as cities and agencies slash budgets and redirect money," 1 July 2020 Shipping costs are one of Amazon’s largest expenses, and Zoox could help the company shave off more than $20 billion annually, Morgan Stanley analysts have estimated.
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Fortune, "Amazon is buying self-driving vehicle startup Zoox," 26 June 2020 If Facebook's top 100 advertisers all dropped off the platform, that would shave just 1% off its annual revenue, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak.
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Irina Ivanova, CBS News, "Facebook ad boycott is a tactical retreat for companies, not a cause," 1 July 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The clogging could interfere with the closeness and thoroughness of the shave.
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Deanna Pai, CNN Underscored, "The best women’s razors of 2020," 9 July 2020 The clogging could interfere with the closeness and thoroughness of the shave.
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Deanna Pai, CNN Underscored, "The best women’s razors of 2020," 9 July 2020 The clogging could interfere with the closeness and thoroughness of the shave.
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Deanna Pai, CNN Underscored, "The best women's razors of 2020," 26 June 2020 Hong does not like when others touch him, so Tristan wanted to give his father a shave and a haircut on Father’s Day.
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Isadora Kosofsky, Time, "A Socially Distant Father's Day at an L.A. Nursing Home Is a Welcome, Though Difficult Event," 22 June 2020 On Izidor’s 18th birthday, Marlys baked a cake and wrapped his gift, a photo album documenting their life together: his first day in America, his first dental appointment, his first job, his first shave.
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Melissa Fay Greene, The Atlantic, "Can an Unloved Child Learn to Love?," 18 June 2020 An unbelievably smooth shave awaits in this luxurious shaving kit.
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Braelyn Wood, Health.com, "The 15 Best Father’s Day Gifts Your Dad Can Actually Use During Quarantine," 11 June 2020 Watching a nurse cut a bandage or an orderly help someone shave is pretty moving.
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Isabel Gillies, The Atlantic, "All the Cozy Little Things Keep Me Going," 25 Mar. 2020 After his shave, James set off to find Alizee, who was sitting outside with his parents, Carole and Michael Middleton.
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Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE.com, "James Middleton Just Showed Off a Major Makeover: See the Dramatic Before and After!," 11 May 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shave.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for shave
shave
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of shave
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to cut the hair, wool, etc., off (someone or something) very close to the skin
: to cut off (hair, wool, a beard, etc.) very close to the skin
: to remove a thin layer of (something) from something
shave
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of shave (Entry 2 of 2)
: an act of shaving
See the full definition for shave in the English Language Learners Dictionary
shave
verb\ ˈshāv \
\shaved; shaved or shaven\ ˈshā-vən \; shaving
Kids Definition of shave
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to cut or trim off a thin layer of (as with a sharp blade)
I shaved the wood from the tip of the pencil.
2 : to cut off very close to the skin
He shaved the hair from his head.
3 : to make bare or smooth by cutting the hair from
He shaved his face.
shave
nounKids Definition of shave (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : an act of making bare or smooth by cutting the hair from
2 : a narrow escape
a close shave
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Time Traveler for shave
The first known use of shave was before the 12th century
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