raze

To level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.transitive

• The fortreſſe was raſed and beaten downe to the erthe⸝ whiche had coſt moche the makynge therof: […]
• Theſe are his ſubſtance, ſinevves, armes, and ſtrength, / VVith vvhich he yoaketh your rebellious Neckes, / Razeth your Cities, and ſubuerts your Tovvnes, / And in a moment makes them deſolate.

To completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.; also, to remove from existence; to destroy, to obliterate.figurativelytransitive

• VVithout reſpect of ſex, degree or age. / He raceth all his foes vvith fire and ſvvord.
• Ile find a day to maſſacre them all, / And race their faction and their familie, […]

To erase (a record, text, etc.), originally by scraping; to rub out, to scratch out.alsofigurativelytransitive

• Suppleyng to Fame, I besought her grace, / And that it wolde please her, full tenderly I prayd, / Owt of her bokis Apollo to rase.
• The wound alas happe in some other place, / From whence no toole away the skar can race.

To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially; to graze.regionaltransitive

• [T]he ſvvorde more mercifull then hee to himſelfe, vvith the ſlipping of the pommel, the point ſvvarued, and razed him but vpon the ſide: […]
• 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?

To alter (a document) by erasing parts of it.obsoletetransitive

• This indenture is raced all the worlde may ſe it: Ceſte indenture eſt faulcée tout le monde le peult veoyr.
• But I vvill take another order novv, / And race th'eternall Regiſter of time: […]

To carve (a line, mark, etc.) into something; to incise, to inscribe; also, to carve lines, marks, etc., into (something); to engrave.obsoletetransitive

• Generally, Barbarous People, that goe Naked, doe not onely paint Themſelues, but they povvnce and raze their Skinne, that the Painting may not be taken forth; And make it into VVorks.
• [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: […]

To remove (something) by scraping; also, to cut or shave (something) off.obsoletetransitive

To rub lightly along the surface of (something); brush against, to graze.obsoletetransitive

• Sometimes, his feet raſed the ſurface of the water; and, at others, the ſkylight almoſt flattened his noſe.

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.obsoletetransitive

• 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; […]

To shave (someone or part of their body) with a razor, etc.obsoletetransitive

• [A] ſharpe worde moued thée, when other whiles a ſworde will not, then a friendly checke killeth thée, when a raſor cannot raſe thée.
• Do you fancy him retir'd that […] conſumes his time trifling amongſt Barbers, razing and ſprucing himſelf, Povvdering, Combing, and ſummoning a Council upon every Hair?

A slight wound; a scratch; also, a cut, a slit.obsolete

• [I]f you make tvvo razes on each ſide [of the horse's hoof], it ſhall bee ſo much the better, and inlarge the hoofe the more; […]
• [A] man had better receive tvventy vvounds in his good name, then but a ſingle raze in his conſcience.

Obsolete spelling of race (“rhizome of ginger”).alt-ofobsolete

A swinging fence in a watercourse to prevent cattle passing through.