▪ I. shaver
(ˈʃeɪvə(r))
[f. shave v. + -er1.]
1. One who shaves with a razor.
| c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 652/9 Hic rasor, shawere. 1483 Cath. Angl. 333/2 A Schaver, tonsor, barbitonsor (vbi Barbwre A.). 1592 [implied: see 3 below]. 1628 Ford Lovers Mel. ii. ii, Shall I fetch a Barbour..? He..has not been vnder the Shauers hand almost these foure yeeres. 1777 Johnson in Boswell (1904) II. 125 Sir, of a thousand shavers, two do not shave so much alike as not to be distinguished. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xix, The bird-fancier was an easy shaver also, and a fashionable hair⁓dresser also. 1906 B. Capes Loaves & Fishes 165 And any shaver [will tell you], that his razor, after maltreating..one side of his face, will repent. |
| fig. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. Concl. 64 If they [the Prelatry, likened to Delilah] be such clippers of regal power and shavers of the Laws. |
2. † a. One who pillages or plunders; an extortioner.
cunning shaver: a swindler, sharper.
| 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices iii. (1540) 144, I wyll not speke of murderers,..theues, pollers and shauers in this place. 1606 Dekker Seven Deadly Sins vi. (Arb.) 39 A shauer of yong Gentlemen, before euer a haire peepe out of their chinnes: and these are Vsurers. 1652 J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox vi. 111 This bred a suspition..that they were some cunning Shavers that intended to surprise them. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Shaver, a Cunning Shaver, a subtil, smart Fellow. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil (1822) 272 The Devil is a cunning shaver. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Shaver, a cunning shaver, a subtle fellow, one who trims close, an acute cheat. 1800 Weems Washington i. (1877) 6 A shaver of farthings from the poor six⁓penny pay of his own brave soldiers! 1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 242 Those scribes for collectors close shavers. 1823 ‘Jon Bee’ Dict. Turf. s.v., ‘He's a shaver’; said of one who charges high for his goods. |
b. U.S. (See
quot. 1860.)
| 1813 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 199 This..the States have..alienated to swindlers and shavers, under the cover of private banks. 1819 H. M{supc}Murtrie Sk. Louisville 124 (Thornton Amer. Gloss.), [The operation of discounting] affords fine sport to shavers. 1849 Hawthorne Twice-told T., Mr. Higginbotham 71 As he's a real shaver, I'll have the minister..for an indorser. 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Shaver... This word, in the United States, is applied to money brokers, who purchase notes at more than legal interest. Banks, when they resort to any means to obtain a large discount, are also called shavers, or shaving banks. |
3. a. = ‘Fellow’, ‘chap’; also, a humorous fellow, joker, wag. Now commonly of a youth, with the epithet
young,
little; the wider application seems to be now only
dial.| 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta ii. iii. E, Itha... I can cut and shaue. Bar. Let me see, sirra, are you not an old shauer? Ith. Alas, Sir, I am a very youth. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. i. ii. 264 Locke and Hudson, sleepe you quiet shauers, among the shauings of the presse. 1602 Rowlands Greenes Ghost 39 Such iollie shauers haue I knowne..to sit vp all night,..quaffing and swilling at the Tauerne. 1635 T. Cranley Amanda 37 Thou art..not coy..To try the courage of so young a shaver. 1649 Davenant Love & Hon. v. iii. 144 Say'st thou so, old shaver? 1698 Farquhar Love & Bottle iii. i, Who would imagine now, that this young shaver could dream of a woman so soon. 1786 Burns Dream xi, There, Him at Agincourt wha shone, Few better were or braver; And yet, wi' funny, queer Sir John, He was an unco shaver For monie a day. 1854 Marion Harland Alone ix, I have known him since I was a shaver. 1887 Besant The World Went ii, Forty-five years ago I was just such a little shaver as this. 1899 J. Lumsden Edinb. Poems 25 Grahame, Campbell, Pollok, Burns, and Tannahill Are worth ten shiploads o' sich shavers still! |
| transf. 1892 S. Hewett Peas. Sp. Devon Pref. 9 A North Devon Colonel of Militia, on seeing a hare jump up.., exclaimed: ‘There 'e go'th, bwoys! a lashing gert shaver!’ |
† b. mad shaver: a roysterer.
Obs.| 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Enfant, Enfant de la mate, a ruffin, backster, swash-buckler, swaggerer, mad shauer. a 1625 Fletcher Hum. Lieut. ii. iv, Leo [old soldier]. Here's a mad Shaver, He fights his share I am sure... Lieu. I learnt it of my Betters. 1651 Fuller's Abel Rediv. 63 Erasmus going abroad somewhat early one morning, was met in a narrow lane by a company of madde shavers. 1664 Cotton Virg. Trav. 62 My mother's a mad Shaver, no man alive knows where to have her. |
4. One who shaves hoops; more fully
hoop shaver.
| 1885 St. James's Gaz. 2 Jan. 6/1 The chief shaver whistles as he brings his blade down a strip of hazel with a hiss. |
5. a. A shaving instrument or tool. Now
esp. a small electrical appliance with a set of blades working against a perforated guard.
| 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 114 b, Fynally, with the saied shaver, or sharp yron, make the sayed pypes or conduites holowe. 1592 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) II. 252, ij cheshels and a shaver. 1597 Middleton Wisd. Solomon xiii. 12 As when a carpenter cuts downe a tree,..He pareth all the barke most cunningly, With the sharp shauer of his kniues abuse. 1648 Hexham ii., Een Schaejken, a small Shaver, or a chiping Axe. Ibid., Een schrabber, a Rasour, or a Shaver. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 111/3 A little gem and a dandy shaver, no better steel put in a razor. 1924 Punch's Almanack for 1925 3 Nov. p. xxviii/1 (Advt.), The Wilkinson safety shaver with hollow-ground blades is the ideal..gift for men. 1960 N. Mitford Don't tell Alfred xviii. 193 ‘What do you pack?’ ‘Shavers—you know, razors.’ 1980 R. Moody Devil you Don't iii. 33 He..took out his shaver and toothbrush. |
b. A shaving machine.
| 1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather xvii. 255 With this improved cutter cylinder the Rood shaver is able to shave the best quality skins. |
6. colloq. = shavecoat s.v. shave v. 13.
| 1926 H. Pearson Whispering Gallery vii. 106 At a big meeting of hospital directors he turned up..in..un⁓business-like colours. One of the directors whispered to another: ‘He'll be coming in his ‘shaver’ next.’ |
7. attrib., as
shaver point,
socket, a power point for an electric shaver.
| 1971 Fremdsprachen XV. 145/1 Shaver point, Trockenrasiersteckdose. 1977 Western Morning News 30 Aug. 10/4 (Advt.), Good-sized kitchen; radios, shaver points, &c. all bedrooms. |
| 1965 Newnes Practical Householder Encycl. III. 1329/1 The shaver is operated from a special shaver socket unit. 1978 Cornish Guardian 27 Apr. 19/2 (Advt.), Strip lights with shaver sockets. |
▪ II. shaver obs. form of
shiver v.