shave

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English shaven, schaven, from Old English sċafan (“to shave, scrape, shred, polish”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaban, from Proto-Germanic *skabaną (“to scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to cut, split, form, carve”). Cognate with West Frisian skave, Dutch schaven (“to shave, plane”), Low German schaven (“to scrape, scratch, shave”), German schaben (“to scrape, shave”), Danish skave, Norwegian Nynorsk skava, Swedish skava (“to scrape, chafe”), Icelandic skafa, Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (skaban, “to shear, shave”).

verb

1. (transitive) To make (the head, skin etc.) bald or (the hair) shorter by using a tool such as a razor or electric clippers to cut the hair close to the skin.
2. (transitive) To cut anything in this fashion.
   The labourer with the bending scythe is seen / Shaving the surface of the waving green. 1713, John Gay, The Rural Sports
3. (intransitive) To remove hair from one's face by this means.
   I had little time to shave this morning.
4. (transitive) To cut finely, as with slices of meat.
5. To skim along or near the surface of; to pass close to, or touch lightly, in passing.
6. To reduce in size, weight, time taken etc., usually by a small amount.
   Kingsman’s two-hour 20-minute running time could have been shaved by around a fifth, without losing a great deal. September 19, 2017, Gwilym Mumford, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle review – spy sequel reaches new heights of skyscraping silliness”, in the Guardian
   The acceleration was impressive, and these trains should allow TfW to look at shaving a few minutes off schedules here and there in the fullness of time, […]. April 19 2023, Pip Dunn, “Jack of all trades... and master of most”, in RAIL, number 981, page 57
7. (archaic, transitive) To be hard and severe in a bargain with; to practice extortion on; to cheat.
8. (US, slang, dated, transitive) To buy (a note) at a discount greater than the legal rate of interest, or to deduct in discounting it more than the legal rate allows.

Etymology 2

From Middle English shave, from Old English sceafa, from Proto-Germanic *skabô.

noun

1. An instance of shaving.
   I instructed the barber to give me a shave.
2. A thin slice; a shaving.
   a jolly mealy 'tator, with a shave of butter, and a shake of pepper 1859, Guillaume Sulpice Chevallier, Albert Richard Smith, Sketches of London life & character
3. (US, slang, dated) An exorbitant discount on a note.
   yea, tis knowable that the paper money of some of them would not pass, comparatively speaking, much, if any, beyond the smoke of the chimney from whence 'twas issued and circulated before you, or those who had it would have to take a broker's shave on it , at the rate of from a ¼, to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, or more per cent, before it could be used as solvently available means of payment. 1838, Levin Lawrence, No. I. of a series of Letters addressed to N. Biddle, page 13
   Being unable to pay the note at maturity, Laws went with Starr to one Snyder, to whom the note was sold at a “shave,” as the parties called it, of 10 per cent. 1854, Horace E. Carter, Albert Gallatin Porter, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Judicature of the State of Indiana; Volume 4, page 192
4. (US, slang, dated) 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.
   If this were a dishonest transaction, why did the companies settle? If it were not, why did the heirs submit to a shave of one-half their claims? 1874, The Insurance Journal: A Review of Fire and Life Insurance
   Where S made a note to raise money upon, and H, agreeing to discount it for a shave of six dollars, received the note and soon returned with the check of V for the amount of such note, less legal discount, payable to the order of S, and he drew the money thereon and having no knowldge of the agreement or of the payment,–Held, that V was not guilty of usury, but was entitled to recover on the note. 1877, William Wait, A Digest of New York Reports: From 1872 to 1876
   He expected to pay the expenses of examining the titles, yet claims that the whole sum paid was a shave. 1878, Court of Appeals, page 7
5. A hand tool, mainly for woodworking, consisting of a sharp blade with a handle at each end.
6. (informal) A narrow miss or escape; a close shave.
   "[…] I had an awful shave getting into the harbour," remarked Archie. 1919, Edward Frederic Benson, Across the Stream