shave--prophetes.ai

▪ I. shave, n.¹
    (ʃeɪv)
    Forms: 1 sceafa, sceaba, scafa, 4–5 schave, 7 shaffe, 4– shave.
    [OE. sceafa wk. masc., corresponding to MDu. schave (Du. schaaf) fem., OHG. scaba (MHG., mod.G. schabe fem.), Icel. skafa fem.:—OTeut. *skaƀon-, f. root *skaƀ-: see shave v. Cf. shave-hook.]
    A name applied to various tools adapted for scraping, paring, or removing the surface of material in very thin slices; a drawing or paring knife; also short for spokeshave, hoop-shave, etc.
    Frequently with distinguishing epithet as cooper's, mast, round shave, etc.

c 825 Epinal Gloss. 853 Runcina, locær vel sceaba. a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia IX. 263 æcse, adsan, bil, byrse, scafan. 1352 Exch. Acc. Q.R. Bundle 20 No. 27 Pro vi. instrumentis vocatis Shaues pro nave praedicta mundanda. 1390 Earl Derby's Exped. (Camden) 20 Super officio scutellarie,..pro j hausak, et j schaue. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 127 Euene the brynkis [of a hole cut in the brain-pan] with schauynge... Þis schaue schal kutte on þe side þat foldiþ ynward. 1404 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 397 Item in custodia Plumbarii..2 schaves, cum maliotis, rakis [etc.]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 444/2 Schave, or schavynge knyfe, scalpellum, C.F. scalprum. 1546 Langley tr. Pol. Verg. de Invent. iii. x. 78 b, The Squire, the Line, the Shaue, the Pricker or Punche were deuised by Theodor a Samian. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. viii. 351/1 A kind of a small half round Plain, of which the Fletchers have two sorts; the first is termed a Ripper;..the next is the Shaffe, or Hollow Shaffe, it worketh the same smooth and round, and fit to be made up into an Arrow. Ibid. iii. xx. (Roxb.) 249/1 He beareth sable, a Smooth Shave, Argent,..which some call a smooth shaveing Knife. 1780 Edmondson Heraldry II. Gloss., Curriers shaves, or Paring-knives. 1842 Penny Mag. 12 Nov. 447/1 The skains are thin ribands of willow, produced by passing the splits through a kind of shave or plane. 1859 W. S. Coleman Woodlands 65 In the manufacture of chip-hats..young branches [of the White Willow] are taken and cut into thin slices by an instrument called a shave. 1875 Carpentry & Joinery 13 We now come to the two handed shave or draw knife as it is often called.

b. Comb.: shave-iron, the blade of a shave or drawing-knife.

1872 Spon's Dict. Engin. v. 1814.

▪ II. shave, n.²
    (ʃeɪv)
    [f. shave v.]
    1. a. Something shaved off; a shaving, paring, thin slice; † fig. a sample, specimen.
    Cf. shive n. with which, however, it is not etymologically connected.

1604 T. M. Black Bk. F j b, You shall not sticke Benedick, to giue a shaue of your Office [of cut-purse] at Powles Crosse in the Sermon time. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. i, Bannocks and a shave of cheese Will make a breakfast. 1788 Picken Poems 63 A shave o' cheese. 1875 Seaton Fret Cutting vi. 56 Try and take off the smallest possible shaves. 1890 J. Service Thir Notandums xi, I got the lassock to fetch me..a saft bile't egg on a shave o' laif.

b. ‘Theatr. slang. The proportion of the receipts paid to a travelling company by a local manager’ (Farmer Slang 1902.)
2. An act of shaving the beard.

1838 Southey Doctor cliii. V. 203 And if the daily shavings of one year..could be put into one shave, the operation..would be more than flesh and blood could bear. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxix, Being here, I may as well have a shave, and get trimmed close. 1887 Tuer & Fagan First Year Silken Reign v. 74 Barbers' shops, where a penny shave had been the staple trade.

3. a. An act of swindling or extortion. clean shave (fig. of sense 1): a complete swindle. Cf. shave v. 7.

1834 C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing 39 I've got some real shaves myself in that way. 1855 J. R. Planché Discreet Princess in Extravaganzas of Planché (1879) V. 130, I much suspect this is some barbarous ‘shave’. 1863 Once a Week 7 Feb. 179/1 We doubt if any lady is aware of the very clean shave she is constantly undergoing. 1881 Harper's Mag. Sept. 492/2 The benches [on Brighton beach] are in one sense a shave... No sooner is a seat taken than a beach-man..demands a penny.

b. ‘U.S. Cant. (a) An exorbitant discount on a note. (b) A premium paid for an extension of the time of delivery or payment, or for the right to vary a stock contract in any particular’ (Webster 1864–96).
4. Mil. slang. An unauthenticated report.

1813 Capt. R. M. Cairnes Let. to Col. W. Cuppage 11 June (MS.), The shave of the day is that Burgos is evacuated and destroyed: but this cannot surely be. 1898 Sir G. S. Robertson Chitral 322 In every camp in war time, there are curious rumours called ‘shaves’, which originate no one knows how, and are disseminated with equal mystery. They are sometimes fantastic, but often curiously accurate.

5. a. A slight or grazing touch; hence, a narrow escape from touching, more emphatically a close shave, near shave and the like. lit. and fig.

1834 R. H. Froude Rem. 23 Nov. (1838) I. 381, I seem to myself to have had a shave, if indeed I have weathered the point yet. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. vii. 73 We passed clear; but it was a close shave. 1866 Dickens & Halliday Mugby Junction (All Year Round Christm. No.) 27/1 The next instant the hind coach passed my engine by a shave. It was the nearest touch I ever saw. 1892 Huxley in L. Huxley Life (1900) II. xix. 329, I had a narrow shave to get down to Osborne. 1894 Sir J. D. Astley Fifty Yrs. Life I. 77 Accomplishing the distance..with equally remarkable near shaves of a collision.

b. University slang.

1840 T. Hook Fitzherbert II. ix. 239 Collegians glorying in a ‘pass’ (which the Oxford world called a ‘shave’). 1840 J. T. J. Hewlett P. Priggins xvi, Getting through his great-go by a shave. 1860 [see shave v. 10 c].

▪ III. shave, v.
    (ʃeɪv)
    Forms: inf. 1 scaeban, sceafan, scafan, scæfan, (3 3rd pres. scaft, scæft), 4–5 schaf(e, schave, 4 Sc. shawe, 5 schavin, schaffe, Sc. schaiff, 5–6 scheve, 6 shawe, 7 schaive, 4– shave. pa. tense 1 scóf, 4–5 schove, s(c)hoof(e, (4 shoove, Sc. schufe), 5 shufe, schof(e, (schave, shoef), 5–6 shove, (6 Sc. schuif); weak forms: 4 schaved(e, schavyde, 6– shaved. pa. pple. 1 sceafen, scafen, 4–5 schaven, -yn, shavyn, schave, shave, (4 schavun, 5 shavon, 5–6 schavin, 6 Sc. schaven, schaiffyn, 7 Sc. schevin, 8 Sc. schawin, 3– shaven; also 3 ischaven, 3–4 i-schave, 4 y-shave; weak forms: 4– shaved, (6 Sc. schavit).
    [A Com. Teut. verb (originally strong): OE. sceafan str. corresponds to OS. (*scaƀan) scavan (glossing planare, scalpere), LG., Du. schaven, OHG. scaban, scapan (MHG. schabun, schuop, geschaben, mod.G. schaben wk.), ON. skafa, skóf, skafenn (Sw. skafva, Da. skave), Goth. skaban, f. Teut. root *skaƀ-.
    It is doubtful whether the pre-Teut. form is *skabh- (= root of L. scabĕre to scratch, scabiēs itch) or *skap- (= root of Gr. σκάπτειν to dig, σκαπάνη spade).]
    1. a. trans. To scrape, to scrape away the surface of, to cut down or pare away with a sharp tool, thereby removing very thin portions of the surface. Also with off. † to shave on: to put on by shaving or grating.

c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) P 539 Poleo, scaebe. a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. i. (1890) 30 Man scof þara boca leaf þe of Hibernia coman, & þa sceafþan dyde on wæter. c 1205 Lay. 22293 Sum scæft horn, sum scaft ban. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1134 Polysed als playn as parchemen schauen. c 1366 Rom. Rose 941 But they [arrows] were shaven wel and dight. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 84 Euery day I schoue þe bare bone with instrument preparate þer-to. a 1450 Myrc 1822 And schaf hyt after, þat ys be-bled, And do þe schauynge for to brenne. 1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 6 Pinnes..shalbe..wel smethed, the shanke wel shauen. 1584 Lyly Campaspe Prol. at Crt., The Persian kings sometimes shaued stickes. a 1655 Sir T. T. de Mayerne Archimag. Anglo-Gall. No. 16 (1658) 8 When they are baked, shave on a little sugar. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xx. (Roxb.) 235/2 The Scalpra or Scraping Toole; it is to scrape or shave bones with all. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 585 A monitor is wood—plank shaven thin. We wear it at our backs. 1856 Olmsted Slave States vi. 395 In the woods I saw a negro..shaving shingles. 1885 St. James's Gaz. 2 Jan. 6/2 The shaver, with a few long sweeps of this implement, quickly shaves down his raw material into supple hoops.

b. To scrape or pare (a skin, hide, etc.). spec. in Currying, To pare away the inequalities of and thin down (leather).

1467 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 396 Also, that no Sadeler, Bocho{supr}, Baker, ne Glover..shave flesh, skynnes, or huydes, but above the Brugge. 1530 Palsgr. 717/1, I shave, as a tanner dothe his leather, je planie. Nowe that his hydes be tanned, se howe easely he shaveth them. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 378 The currier..next applies the cleaners..to remove or thin down all inequalities. After the leather is shaved, it is thrown once more into water. Ibid. 379 Hides intended for covering coaches are shaved nearly as thin as shoe hides.

c. Hat-making. To smooth with pounce, sandpaper, etc. (cf. pounce v.³ 1).

1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Pouncing Machine, a machine for shaving or rubbing the surface of a hat or hat-body to rid it of shaggy fibres. 1902 [see luring vbl. n.²].

2. To remove by scraping or paring; to cut off in thin slices or shavings; also to shave off.

1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxvi. 4 And I shal shaue [Vulg. radam] the dust of it [sc. Tyre] from it. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 129 Gold i-schave of seyntes schrynes. 1398 ― Barth. De P.R. xix. xvii. (1495) 874 Yf a man purposyth to shaue other to wasshe the colour Minius out of the perchemyn. 1635–8 Archdeaconry of Essex (MS.) Minutes 243 b, The officers found him..in a barne where he is vehemently suspected to be shaving of barke. 1639 O. Wood Alph. Bk. Secrets 46 Take Iuniper thinne shaved, and the Berries bruised. 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. xiii. 221 Its sharp Edge scrapes or shaves off the little roughness the grosser Tools left upon the Work.

3. a. To cut off (hair, esp. the beard) close to the skin with or as with a razor. Also with away, off.

c 1320 R. Brunne's Medit. 966 Whan Iewes had dampned hym deþ for to haue, Shamely berde and hede gun þey shaue. 1382 Wyclif Lev. xiv. 8 He shal shaue alle the heeres of the bodi. c 1386 Chaucer Shipman's T. 309 With crowne and berde all fressh and newe y-shaue. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas i. i. (1544) 3 Goddes angell shoue away his berde. 1474 Caxton Chesse iii. iii. (1883) 93 And the other ought to shaue berdes and kembe the heeris. 1530 Palsgr. 701/2 He hath shavyn away all the heare on his heed. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. x. 4 Then toke Hanun the seruauntes of Dauid, and shoue of the one halue of their beerdes. 1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus ii. 88 In what house soeuer there dies a cat, all of the same family shaue their eyebrowes. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 8 Were I the wearer of Anthonio's Beard, I would not shaue't to day. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xix. (1787) II. 140 The ceremony of shaving his beard,..when he first exchanged the cloak of a Greek philosopher for the military habit of a Roman prince. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. vii. 86, I immediately order the hair to be shaved off. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxii, Take my counsel, and shave off them mustachios, or they'll bring you into mischief. Ibid. xxxiv, Mr. Bowls's young man..brought him his hot water to shave that beard which he was so anxiously expecting. 1901 T. J. Alldridge Sherbro xx. 197, I observed other women with the wool shaved off just above the forehead.

† b. fig. to shave (a person's) beard, to bring to discomfiture. Obs.

c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 4340 Hir berdes shaued he right smothe & clene. 1418 Man, beware! 53 in 26 Pol. Poems 62 Er drede and repref þy berde shaue.

4. a. To cut off the beard, whiskers, or moustache from (a person, his chin, upper lip, etc.) with a razor.

c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2120 Ioseph was sone in prisun ðo hoȝt, And shauen, & clad, & to him broȝt. c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 582 He kisseth hire..With thilke brustles of his berd vnsofte..ffor he was shaue al newe. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 305 Ther was..a passand curios barbur, and for euer-ilk man þat he shufe he tuke a peny. 1522 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 400 No man shalbe made fre unlesse he..shave his upper lipe wicklye. 1611 Bible Gen. xli. 14 And he shaued himselfe, and changed his raiment. 1618 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Pennyless Pilgr. C 1 b, This Gentleman..sent to me his Barber, Who lau'd, and shau'd me. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 125 Shaving the Chin is justly to be accounted a note of effeminacie. a 1722 Fountainhall Decis. (1759) I. 10 As in barbers shops he who is first wet is first shaven. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. viii, Stepping into a barber's shop to be shaved. 1838 J. H. Merivale Poems I. 93 Who, were the razor ne'er so bright and keen, Would never think it shaved him clean. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola i. xvi, To be shaved was a fashion of Florentine respectability. 1872 J. Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 72 The practise of shaving the chin was commenced in the days of Alexander the Great.

b. transf. and fig.

1589 Nashe Pasquil's Ret. Wks. (Grosart) I. 128 And Sprignols man told me (as he trimd me the other day) that there is a new Barber in London, about to shaue the Bible. 1799 Holcroft Mem. (1816) III. 229 A stiff breeze..described by a sailor, who swore that it shaved him. 1855 Browning Old Pictures in Florence v, The church's..face set full for the sun to shave. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XI. 519/1 [Beaver hat making.] The coarse hairs or kemps which may be in the fur are cut off by shaving the surface with a razor.

5. a. To remove the hair from (the head, crown, etc.) with a razor. Also (now rarely) with the person as object (= to shave the head of).
Shaving the head is often jocularly referred to as a remedial operation for maniacal excitement.

a 1225 Ancr. R. 422 (MS. C) [Ȝe schulen beon] ȝef ȝe wulleð i-schauen, hwase wule ieveset. a 1340 Hampole Psalter, Song Moses 522 Þe whilk [prisoners] was wont to be shauyn þe heuyd, & so solde. c 1370 Robt. Cicyle 53 Thou art a fole, seyde the aungelle, Thou schalt be schavyn ovyr ylke a dele. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxiv. (1890) 88 And thenne came out the olde witche of charmouse magyque,..alle her hed shauen. 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Ep. Ded. A 3, There is a..Doctor of late very pittifully growen bald, and thereupon is to be shauen immediately, to trie if that will helpe him. 1600 J. Hamilton Facile Traict. in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 235 Wemen with barne..to be set vp in ane opin place with the half of thair haid schevin. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. ii. 187. 1685 Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Acts xxi. 22 They [Nazarites] are to shave themselves ceremoniously in the Temple. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch I. 5 (Theseus) He shaved, however, only the fore part of his head. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell vi. iv, Another [said]—‘Let him shave his head! Where's Dr. Willis?’ 1886 F. W. Robinson Courting Mary Smith II. ii. xviii. 72, I believe I am nearly off, and they'll be glad to shave my head in a day or two. 1906 W. H. R. Rivers Todas xxviii. 663 The Melgarsol again resemble the Teivaliol in not shaving the head after a funeral.

b. esp. To tonsure as a cleric. † Frequently with complement, to shave (a person) a monk, canon, priest, friar; also, to make (a ‘crown’) by shaving.

a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 121 He..Clede him all as a clerke & his croune shauys. c 1400 The Brut lxvii. 63 This traitoure..put oppon him an habite of religioun and lete shaue him a brode crone. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas viii. xix. (1554) 189 b, Constance..forthwith anon Was shaue a Monke. 1481 Caxton Reynard viii. (Arb.) 18 Were ye amonke or an abbot he that shoef your crowne hath nyped of your eeris. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 200 He past to the abbay of Sanct Andros, and schuif him thair ane chanoun. 1616 R. Cocks Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 164 Calsa Same was..to goe to a church neare Miaco..to be shaved a prist. a 1691 D. North in R. North Lives (1826) II. 312 Who will, may shave himself a friar. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. (1864) II. iv. viii. 395 Irene..seized, scourged and shaved into ecclesiastics the chief of her son's adherents.

† c. to shave (a person's) crown: to cut off or gash the head (with jocular reference to clerical tonsure). Obs.

13.. Coer de L. 4568 Every Sarezen that they mette..by the schuldren they schoof the crown. 13.. Guy Warw. 3651 Þou hast a croun schauen to þe bon. 14.. Beues 1870 (MS. N), I schaue [MS. S schofe] him a kroune of red blode. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. i. 51 Glost...Now by Gods Mother, Priest, Ile shaue your Crowne for this.

d. Proverb.

1626 T. H[awkins] tr. Caussin's Holy Crt. i. ix. 77 For if Enuy (according to the prouerbe) will offer to shaue an eg, she will mow in a meadow. [orig. Car si l'enuie tond survn œuf, que ne fera elle sur vn pré.] 179. Wolcot (P. Pindar) Odes to Kien Long ii. Wks. 1792 III. 299 Curst with an av'rice, some would shave an egg.

6. a. absol. Of a barber.

c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptista) 1020 His barboure tald hym til, gyf he wald haf don þer wil, he had schorne his hals in twa, to schaf þat quhen he suld ga. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 140 Wel koude he laten blood and clippe and shaue. 1474 Caxton Chesse iii. ii. (1883) 90 He made hys doughters to lerne shaue and kembe. 1689 Lond. Gaz. No. 2483/4 He shaves and makes Periwigs. 1718 Free-thinker No. 95. 283 A poor Barber who shaves for Two-pence.

b. intr. for refl. To shave oneself.

a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) II. 219 He was quickly dressed, but would lose no time in shaving. 1827 Scott Surg. Dau. ii, I have seen the Doctor with a langer beard himsell, when he has not had leisure to shave. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxvi, Even archbishops shave, or must be shaved, on a Sunday.

7. a. trans. To strip (a person) clean of money or possessions (? obs.); † to treat stingily (obs.); to practise exaction or extortion upon; to fleece. Also absol. Now colloq. or slang.
† More emphatically to shave to the quick (see also quick n.¹ 4 b, quot. 1551).

c 1399 Chaucer Purse 19 Now purse..Oute of this tovne helpe me..Syn that ye wole nat bene my tresorere, for I am shave as nye as is a Frere. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus ii. iv. M iv, He shall be pollyd and shauen by vs, tyll he shal not haue a halfepennye lefte. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 143 The religious..were charged with greate sommes of money to the kyng, and now this sodain visitacion or predacion, cleane shaued them. 1606 Dekker Seven Deadly Sins vi. (Arb.) 40 Then haue you Brokers yat shaue poore men by most iewish interest. a 1610 Healey Theophrastus (1636) 48 Hee measureth miserably to his servants; shaving, and pinching them to a grain. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man iv, We should never travel without—a case of good razors... But no matter, I believe we shall be pretty well shaved by the way. 1830 D. Booth Analyt. Dict. 220 To Shave, in low language, is to strip a person of his property by unfair means. 1861 Mrs. H. Wood East Lynne xlix, I bought this rig-out yesterday, second-hand. Two pounds for the lot! I think they shaved me. 1864 Hotten's Slang Dict. (1865) s.v., ‘To shave a customer’, to charge him more for an article than the marked price. Used in the drapery trade. When the master sees an opportunity of doing this, he strokes his chin, as a signal to his assistant.

b. absol.

1528 Tindale Obed. Chr. Man 75 b, This..sheringe..of the heare..is to them a remembraunce to shere and shave, to hepe benefice apon benfice [etc.]. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. iii. 50 Thus then the civill Magistrat looking only upon the outward man... Sometimes he shaves by penalty, or mulct... Otherwiles he seres,..and finally..cuts off. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, He shaves close, he gripes, squeezes, or extorts very severely. 1816 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) IV. i. 7 Economy is the order of the day, and I assure you they are shaving properly close.

† 8. To steal. slang. Obs.

1585 Fleetwood in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 303 Shave is to ffylche a clooke, a sword, a sylver sponne or such like, that is negligentlie looked unto. 1719 D'Urfey Pills III. 105 The Maidens had shav'd his Breeches.

9. a. To cut off cleanly or closely. Also with off. † to shave out one's way: to get out by cutting down obstacles.

1598 Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. 584 He..Shaves with keen Sythe, the glory and delight Of motly Medowes. 1614 Gorges Lucan x. 447 She..from his corps his head did shaue. 1665 Roxb. Ball. (1887) VI. 437 Brave Smith in the Mary did shave out his way As Reapers do Wheat, or as Mowers do Hay. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. vi. 193 The peak [of his cap] was shaved off close to his temple by a ball. 1836 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. i. xxii, They are afeard to show their noses..lest they should be shaved off by our shots. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 164 The Fans, who are very slowly shaving the trees from the top of the hill.

b. To cut off closely the growth of (ground, a lawn, etc.); also transf. of artillery fire.

1764 Dodsley Descr. Leasowes in Shenstone's Wks. (1793) I. 48 Ground..that before is kept close shaven. 1788 in Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1861) II. 98 Our lawn is shaved so close by the goats. 1820 Shelley Witch of Atlas xlviii, Like a meadow which no scythe has shaven. 1892 Bierce In Midst of Life 56 An artillery fire that will shave the ground the moment they break from cover.

10. a. To touch lightly in passing, to graze; hence, barely to escape touching.

1513 Douglas æneis viii. i. 137, I am God Tibris..Quhilk..Bettis thir brayis, schawand the bankis doun [L. stringentem ripas]. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 634 Som times He [Satan] scours the right hand coast,..Now shaves with level wing the Deep, then soares Up to the fiery concave. 1777 [T. Swift] Gamblers i. 213 There [at Tennis] Tomkyns shaves the Line; or flying sends The whizzing Globe. 1885 Field 7 Feb. 168/1 An attempt of Evelyn's which just shaved the bar. 1888 Barrie When a Man's Single xi. 181 Three hansoms shaved him by an inch. 1890 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 128 As we turned one corner we hung nearly over the cliff, just shaved it.

b. intr. to shave through: to get through only by grazing (that which has to be passed); fig. to scrape through, barely pass (an examination).

1860 Hotten's Slang Dict. (ed. 2) s.v., At Cambridge, ‘just shaving through’, or ‘making a shave’, is just escaping a ‘pluck’ by coming out at the bottom of the list. 1882 Freeman in W. R. W. Stephens Life & Lett. (1895) II. 256 Another who had barely shaved through his matriculation. 1887 Poor Nellie (1888) 45 It would be too late for the straits. You can only shave through at half-tide.

11. trans. U.S. slang. To discount (a promissory note) at an exorbitant rate of interest; also to shave paper. (Cf. shaver 2 b.)

1832 Webster s.v., To shave a note, to purchase it at a great discount, a discount much beyond the legal rate of interest. (A low phrase.) 1833 [S. Smith] Lett. J. Downing xv. (1835) 92 He says..he is makin a good livin in shavin drafts from ¹/₄ to 1½ per cent., which the U.S. Bank used to take and collect for nothin. 1834 ‘J. Downing’ Andrew Jackson 29 The Pontius Pilates who shave notes and receive niggurs in pawn. 1890 Gildersleeve Ess. & Stud. 225 He could not have made both ends meet by ‘shaving paper’ at thirty-six per cent.

12. a. To cut down in amount, to reduce. orig. and chiefly U.S.

1898 Boston Herald 23 Jan. 14/3 There are indications that tariff sheets are being secretly shaved. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? vii. 141 The studio was having one of its periodic drives to cut overheads—which seemed to mean shaving stenographers' wages first. 1962 Wodehouse Service with Smile xi. 180 In the hope of making him shave his price a bit? 1972 Times 16 Feb. 13/8 This coin enables traders to shave their prices and if it did not exist there would be a considerable rounding up.

b. To deduct (a small amount) from or off (a quantity, time, etc.).

a 1961 in Webster (1961) s.v., New procedures shave minutes from the unloading process. 1982 Times 26 Aug. 15/2 The Bank shaved another 1/8 of a percentage point off the rate at which it buys bills from the discount houses.

13. Comb., as shavecoat, a man's casual garment resembling a housecoat; shavetail orig. U.S. Mil. slang, (a) an untrained pack animal, identified by a shaven tail; also attrib.; (b) fig. a newly commissioned officer, spec. a second lieutenant; also gen., an inexperienced person; also attrib.

1964 N.Y. Times Mag. 29 Nov. 73 Weldon makes something like a shavecoat. It's extra comfortable and convenient for shaving. 1970 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 27 Dec. 6d The bridegroom wore a mustard colored shavecoat. But it was a very nice shavecoat.

1846 New Orleans Delta 31 Aug. 366/2 [This mule] was followed by Shavetail Kicky, Esq., who, in a few pertinent remarks, expressed his ass-ent to the proceedings. 1891 J. G. Bourke On Border with Crook 153 Officers..are known as ‘bell-sharps’ and ‘shave-tails’..the former being the old captain..and the latter the youngster fresh from his studies. 1908 R. Beach Barrier 283 The first shave⁓tail desperado that meets him will spit in his eye. 1948 F. Blake Johnny Christmas i. 26 He had..six shavetail Indian ponies packed with articles he had brought down to sell. 1976 L. Deighton Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy vii. 70, I was a shavetail, just out of pilot training. 1980 Blair & Ketchum's Country Jrnl. Oct. 43/1 That last practice started in the mines, where a ‘shavetail’ was a snaky mule, not to be trusted.