Meaning

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

Definitions by Sense

1. To level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.
2. To completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.; also, to remove from existence; to destroy, to obliterate.
3. To erase (a record, text, etc.), originally by scraping; to rub out, to scratch out.
4. To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially; to graze.
5. To alter (a document) by erasing parts of it.
6. To carve (a line, mark, etc.) into something; to incise, to inscribe; also, to carve lines, marks, etc., into (something); to engrave.
7. To remove (something) by scraping; also, to cut or shave (something) off.
8. To rub lightly along the surface of (something); brush against, to graze.

Example Sentences

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.

Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jeruſalem; who ſayd, raſe it, raſe it: euen to the foundation thereof.

[N]ovv I find, / Theſe men vvould render thee the ſhame, of all men; nor vvould pay, / Their ovvne vovves to thee, vvhen they tooke, their free and honord vvay, / From Argos hither; that till Troy, vvere by their braue hands rac't, / They vvould not turne home; […]

For his further ſecuritie he [Don Roderigo] diſarmed his ſubjects; ſuch Caſtles and ſtrengths as hee vvas jealous of vvere raced, […]

Some ſaid, that I the Temple to the floore / In three dayes raz'd, and raiſed as before.

[A]fter they had deſtroyed Religion, they pulled dovvn Churches, (as being then of no Uſe) and raſed the nobleſt Structures in the Land, to ſell the Materials; […]

Thou vvoundeſt the Head of the Houſe of the VVicked; / Thou raſedſt the Foundation even to the Rock; / Thou piercedſt thro' vvith thy Scepter the Head of the Villages.

Word Forms

• razes
• razing
• razed
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• raze
• razest
• razedst
• razeth
• -
• race
• rase

Synonyms for raze

Antonyms for raze

Related Words

When Should You Use Raze?

Use raze when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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