I. shave 1 S3 /ʃeɪv/ BrE AmE verb
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: scafan ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to cut off hair very close to the skin, especially from the face, using a ↑ razor :
He hadn’t shaved for days.
Brian had cut himself shaving.
shave your head/legs/armpits etc
She shaved her legs and underarms.
2 . [transitive] to remove very thin pieces from the surface of something:
Shave thin strips of cheese over the pasta.
shave something ↔ off phrasal verb
1 . to remove hair by shaving:
I’ve decided to shave off my beard.
2 . ( also shave something off something ) to remove very thin pieces from the surface of something, using a knife or other cutting tool:
I had to shave a few millimetres off the bottom of the door to make it shut.
3 . ( also shave something off something ) if you shave a small amount off something such as a price or a record, you make the price slightly smaller or the record time slightly shorter:
She shaved half a second off the world record.
II. shave 2 BrE AmE noun [countable usually singular]
1 . if a man has a shave, he cuts off the hair on his face close to his skin using a ↑ razor :
He looked as if he needed a shave.
have a shave British English :
I’ll just have a shave before we go.
2 . a close shave a situation in which you only just avoid an accident or something bad SYN narrow escape :
Phew, that was a close shave.