razor

See also: Razor

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

razor

Wikipedia

a straight shaving razor

Alternative forms

• razour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English rasour, from Old French rasour, from raser (“to scrape, to shave”). More at rat.

Displaced native Old English sċierseax (literally “shaving knife”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪzə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹeɪzɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ra‧zor
• Rhymes: -eɪzə(ɹ)

Noun

razor (plural razors)

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.
   • 2007 July 1, Jake Mooney, “For Aficionados of Shaving, la Crème de la Crème”, in The New York Times‎:

     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.

   • 2013, Robert L. Buyer, Ursula T. Coute, Following the North Star, page 26:

     The box was jam packed full o' gifts for each manjack of us: razors, aftershave, toothbrushes, an' books.

3. The sharp tusk of a wild boar.
4. (philosophy) A conceptual device that allows one to shave away unlikely explanations for a phenomenon.

   Occam's razor, Hanlon's razor

Derived terms

Terms derived from razor (noun)

• Alder's razor
• Blore's razor
• cutthroat razor
• cut-throat razor
• disposable razor
• electric razor
• Gould's razor shell
• Hanlon's razor
• Hitchens' razor
• Hitchens's razor
• Occam's razor
• open razor
• razor and blades
• razor-backed
• razor-billed auk
• razor-billed curassow
• razor blade
• razor bump
• razor burn
• razor clam
• razor comb
• razor cream
• razor eye
• razor grass
• razor grinder
• razor paste
• razor sharp
• razor-sharp
• razor shell
• razor strap
• razor strop
• razor-thin
• razor thin
• razor wire
• razor-wired
• razory
• safety razor
• stepping razor
• straight razor

 

Translations

shaving knife

Afrikaans: skeermes Albanian: brisk (sq) m Arabic: مُوسَى حِلَاقَة m (mūsā ḥilāqa), مُوس حِلَاقَة m (mūs ḥilāqa) Egyptian Arabic: موس m (mūs) Hijazi Arabic: موس m (mūs), موس حلاقة m (mūs ḥilāga) Moroccan Arabic: ززوار (zizwār), موس m (mūs) Aragonese: navalla f, corte Armenian: ածելի (hy) (aceli) Assamese: খুৰ (khur) Asturian: cháfara f, charrasca (ast) f, cheira f, cuchella f, gaxa f, navaya (ast) f Azerbaijani: ülgüc (az) Belarusian: бры́тва f (brýtva) Bengali: খুর (bn) (khur) Bulgarian: бръсна́ч m (brǎsnáč) Burmese: သင်တုန်းဓား (my) (sangtun:dha:) Catalan: navalla (ca) f, raor (ca) m Chechen: урс (urs) Chinese: Cantonese: 鬚刨／须刨 (sou1 paau4-2), 剃鬚刀／剃须刀 (tai3 sou1 dou1) Mandarin: 剃刀 (zh) (tìdāo), 刮鬍刀／刮胡刀 (zh) (guāhúdāo) Coptic: ⲑⲟⲕ (thok) Cornish: alsen f, alten f Czech: břitva (cs) f Danish: kniv (da), barberkniv (da), skraber c Dutch: scheermes (nl) n, mes (nl) n Esperanto: razilo Estonian: habemenuga Evenki: хусивун (husiwun) Faroese: rakiblað n Finnish: partaveitsi (fi), partahöylä (fi) French: rasoir (fr) m Friulian: rasôr m, rosôr m, rasadôr m Galician: navalla (gl) f Georgian: სამართებელი (samartebeli) German: Rasiermesser (de) n, Rasierapparat (de) m, Rasierer (de) m Greek: ξυράφι (el) n (xyráfi), ξουράφι (el) n (xouráfi) Ancient: ξυρόν n (xurón) Haitian Creole: razwa Hebrew: תַעַר (he) m (ta'ar) Hindi: उस्तरा (hi) m (ustarā), उस्तुरा (hi) m (usturā), छुरा (hi) m (churā) Hungarian: borotva (hu) Icelandic: rakvél (is) f Indonesian: pisau cukur (id) Irish: rásúr m Italian: rasoio (it) m Japanese: 剃刀 (ja) (かみそり, kamisori), レザー (rezā) Kazakh: ұстара (ūstara) Khmer: កាំបិតកោរ (kambət kao) Korean: 면도칼 (myeondokal) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: گوێزان (gwêzan) Northern Kurdish: gûzan (ku) Kyrgyz: устара (ky) (ustara) Lao: ມີດແຖ (lo) (mīt thǣ) Latin: novacula f Latvian: skuveklis m Laz: სკურაჶი (sǩurafi) Lithuanian: skustùvas m Lombard: resô (lmo) m, rasô (lmo) m Macedonian: брич m (brič) Malay: pisau cukur Maori: mata heu Mongolian: Cyrillic: сахлын тонгорог (saxlyn tongorog) Nanai: посико (posiko) Norman: râseux m Norwegian: Bokmål: barberhøvel m Nynorsk: barberhøvel m Okinawan: 剃刀 (かんすい, kansui) Old English: sċierseax n Ottoman Turkish: اوستره (ustura), موسی (musa) Pashto: استرا f (usturā), پاکي (ps) f (pāki) Persian: Dari: اُسْتُرَه (fa) (ustura), تیغ (fa) (tēğ) Iranian Persian: اُسْتُرِه (fa) (ostore), تیغ (fa) (tiğ) Plautdietsch: Schäamassa n Polish: brzytwa (pl) f Pontic Greek: ξυράφιν n (xyráfin) Portuguese: navalha (pt) f Punjabi: Gurmukhi: ਉਸਤਰਾ (pa) m (ustarā) Romanian: brici (ro) n Russian: бри́тва (ru) f (brítva) Salar: yiligüş Sanskrit: क्षुर (sa) m (kṣurá) Sardinian: lesorja f, rasogia f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: брѝја̄ч m, бри̏тва f Roman: brìjāč (sh) m, brȉtva (sh) f Skolt Sami: friitv Slovak: britva f Slovene: britev (sl) f Spanish: navaja (es) f, yen (es) f Swedish: rakkniv (sv) c Tajik: поку (poku), устура (ustura), теғ (teġ) Tashelhit: ⵜⴰⵙⵙⴳⵯⵔⵎⵜ f (tassgʷrmt) Tatar: бритва (britwa) Telugu: క్షురము (te) (kṣuramu) Thai: มีดโกน (th) (mîit-goon) Turkish: ustura (tr) Turkmen: pääki Udi: ништӏар (nišṭar) Ukrainian: бри́тва (uk) f (brýtva) Urdu: اُسْتُرا m (usturā), اُسْتَرا m (ustarā) Uyghur: ئۇستۇرا (ustura) Uzbek: ustara (uz) Venetan: raxuro m, raxaór m, raxadór m Vietnamese: dao cạo (vi) Walloon: raezoe (wa) m, rabot (wa) m Welsh: ellyn m, rasel f, raser f Yiddish: גאָלמעסער m (golmeser)

shaving instrument

Arabic: شَفْرَة حِلَاقَة f (šafrat ḥilāqa) Belarusian: бры́тва f (brýtva) Catalan: maquineta d'afaitar f, raor (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 剃刀 (zh) (tìdāo), 刮鬍刀／刮胡刀 (zh) (guāhúdāo) Cornish: alsen f, alten f Danish: barberhøvl c, skraber c Estonian: pardel (et) Finnish: partahöylä (fi), parranajokone (fi) French: rasoir (fr) m Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: Rasierer (de) m Greek: ξυράφι (el) n (xyráfi), ξυραφάκι (el) n (xyrafáki) Hindi: रेज़र m (rezar) Hungarian: borotva (hu) Irish: rásúr m Japanese: 剃刀 (ja) (かみそり, kamisori) Kashubian: brzëtew f Korean: 면도기(面刀器) (ko) (myeondogi) Macedonian: брич m (brič), бричалка f (bričalka) Maori: mata heu Norman: râseux m Norwegian: Bokmål: barberhøvel m Nynorsk: barberhøvel m Persian: Iranian Persian: ریش‌تَراش (fa) (riš-tarâš) Portuguese: gilete (pt) f Russian: бри́тва (ru) f (brítva) Spanish: razuradora f, cuchilla (es) f, gillette (es) f, maquinilla de afeitar f, yen (es) f Swedish: rakhyvel (sv) c Thai: มีดโกน (th) (mîit-goon) Tibetan: སྤུ་གྲི (spu gri), སྐྲ་གྲི (skra gri) Turkish: jilet (tr), tıraş bıçağı (tr) Ukrainian: бри́тва (uk) f (brýtva) Urdu: ریزَر m (rezar) Vietnamese: dao cạo (vi), dao cạo điện (electric) Walloon: raezoe (wa) m, rabot (wa) m Welsh: ellyn m, rasel f, raser f Yiddish: גאָלמעסער m (golmeser)

tusk of wild boar

Afrikaans: slagtand Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Dutch: slagtand (nl), stoottand (nl) m Finnish: torahammas Macedonian: бивни f pl (bivni) Polish: szabla (pl) Portuguese: presa (pt) f Russian: би́вень (ru) m (bívenʹ), клык (ru) m (klyk)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Georgian: (please verify) სამართებელი (samartebeli)

Verb

razor (third-person singular simple present razors, present participle razoring, simple past and past participle razored)

1. (transitive) To shave with a razor.
   • 1868, George MacDonald, chapter 6, in Guild Court‎, volume 3, London: Hurst & Blackett, page 137:

     He thought likewise, that what with razoring and tanning, and the change of his clothes, he was not likely to be recognised.

   • 1996, George R. R. Martin, “Tyrion”, in A Game of Thrones‎, New York: Bantam, published 2016, page 641:

     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.

   • 2008 April 13, Sara Corbett, “Can the Cellphone Help End Global Poverty?”, in New York Times‎:

     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.

Derived terms

• razorable (obsolete)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “razor”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.