razor
/ˈɹeɪzɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.72 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A keen-edged knife of peculiar shape, used in shaving the hair from the face or other parts of the body.
noun
Any tool or instrument designed for shaving.
noun
A conceptual device that allows one to shave away unlikely explanations for a phenomenon.
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "These are fellows who shun the three-, four- and five-blade contraptions and canned goops for an older mode of shaving that they insist remains the ideal: a straight razor or a safety razor with a double-edged blade, and a fine English cream lathered and applied with a badger-hair brush."
- "The box was jam packed full o' gifts for each manjack of us: razors, aftershave, toothbrushes, an' books."
- "Occam's razor, Hanlon's razor"
- "He thought likewise, that what with razoring and tanning, and the change of his clothes, he was not likely to be recognised."
- "Lord Tywin did not believe in half measures. He razored his lip and chin as well, but kept his side-whiskers, two great thickets of wiry golden hair that covered most of his cheeks from ear to jaw."
- "He might be busy examining the advertisements for prostitutes stuck up in a São Paulo phone booth, or maybe getting his ear hairs razored off at a barber shop in Vietnam."
Etymology
From Middle English rasour, from Old French rasour, from raser (“to scrape, to shave”). More at rat. By surface analysis, raze + -or. Displaced the native Old English sċierseax (literally “shaving knife”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɹeɪzɚ/
- British English: /ˈɹeɪzə/