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PlainSpell

shave

/ˈʃeɪ̯v/verb, noun

shave is spelled S-H-A-V-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, shave means “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in shave?

Letters5: S-H-A-V-E
Syllables1
In writing6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is shave?

Shave appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce shave?

  • /ˈʃeɪ̯v/
  • [ˈʃeɪ̯v]

Shave has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-shave.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with shave?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as shave.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: haves.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of shave

  • shaves present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • shaving participle, present
  • shaved past, participle
  • shaven participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does shave mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    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. 2

    To cut anything in this fashion.

  3. 3

    To remove hair from one's face by this means.

    I had little time to shave this morning.

  4. 4

    To cut finely, for example slices of meat.

  5. 5

    To skim along or near the surface of; to pass close to, or touch lightly, in passing.

  6. 6

    To reduce in size, weight, time taken etc., usually by a small amount.

  7. 7

    archaicTo be hard and severe in a bargain with; to practice extortion on; to cheat.

  8. 8

    USdatedslangTo 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.

noun

  1. 1

    An instance of shaving.

    I instructed the barber to give me a shave.

  2. 2

    A thin slice; a shaving.

  3. 3

    USdatedslangAn exorbitant discount on a note.

  4. 4

    USdatedslangA premium paid for an extension of the time of delivery or payment, or for the right to vary a stock contract in any particular.

  5. 5

    A hand tool, mainly for woodworking, consisting of a sharp blade with a handle at each end.

  6. 6

    informalA narrow miss or escape; a close shave.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate shave?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of shave: SSS.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Shave in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchraser, se raser (to remove hair from), rasage (an instance of shaving)
Germanrasieren (to remove hair from), Rasur (an instance of shaving), sich rasieren (to remove hair from one's face)
Portuguesebarbear, raspar (to remove hair from), barbear-se, fazer a barba (to remove hair from one's face), ralar (to slice thin)
Spanishafeitar, rapar, rasurar, resurar (to remove hair from), afeitarse (to remove hair from one's face), lonchear (to slice thin)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does shave come from?

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 scrape”), from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to cut, split, form, carve”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after shave