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”).
1
A keen-edged knife of peculiar shape, used in shaving the hair from the face or other parts of the body.
2
Any tool or instrument designed for shaving.
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.2007 July 1, Jake Mooney, “For Aficionados of Shaving, la Crème de la Crème”, in The New York Times:
The box was jam packed full o' gifts for each manjack of us: razors, aftershave, toothbrushes, an' books.2013, Robert L. Buyer, Ursula T. Coute, Following the North Star, page 26:
3
The sharp tusk of a wild boar.
4
Human sciences, Philosophy, Sciences A conceptual device that allows one to shave away unlikely explanations for a phenomenon.
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”).
1
To shave with a razor.
He thought likewise, that what with razoring and tanning, and the change of his clothes, he was not likely to be recognised.1868, George MacDonald, chapter 6, in Guild Court, volume 3, London: Hurst & Blackett, page 137:
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.1996, George R. R. Martin, “Tyrion”, in A Game of Thrones, New York: Bantam, published 2016, page 641:
1 more example
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.2008 April 13, Sara Corbett, “Can the Cellphone Help End Global Poverty?”, in New York Times: