raze
    v 1: tear down so as to make flat with the ground; "The building
         was levelled" [syn: level, raze, rase, dismantle,
         tear down, take down, pull down] [ant: erect, put
         up, raise, rear, set up]

Rase \Rase\ (r[=a]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rased (r[=a]zd); p.
   pr. & vb. n. Rasing.] [F. raser, LL. rasare to scrape
   often, v. freq. fr. L. radere, rasum, to scrape, shave; cf.
   Skr. rad to scratch, gnaw, L. rodere to gnaw. Cf. Raze,
   Razee, Razor, Rodent.]
   1. To rub along the surface of; to graze. [Obsoles.]
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            Was he not in the . . . neighborhood to death? and
            might not the bullet which rased his cheek have gone
            into his head?                        --South.
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            Sometimes his feet rased the surface of the water,
            and at others the skylight almost flattened his
            nose.                                 --Beckford.
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   2. To rub or scratch out; to erase. [Obsoles.]
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            Except we rase the faculty of memory, root and
            branch, out of our mind.              --Fuller.
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   3. To level with the ground; to overthrow; to destroy; to
      raze. [In this sense raze is generally used.]
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            Till Troy were by their brave hands rased,
            They would not turn home.             --Chapman.
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   Note: This word, rase, may be considered as nearly obsolete;
         graze, erase, and raze, having superseded it.
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   Rasing iron, a tool for removing old oakum and pitch from
      the seams of a vessel.
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   Syn: To erase; efface; obliterate; expunge; cancel; level;
        prostrate; overthrow; subvert; destroy; demolish; ruin.
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Raze \Raze\ (r[=a]z), n. [See Race.]
   A Shakespearean word (used once) supposed to mean the same as
   race, a root. [Obs.]
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Raze \Raze\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Razed (r[=a]zd); p. pr. & vb.
   n. Razing.] [F. raser. See Rase, v. t.] [Written also
   rase.]
   1. To erase; to efface; to obliterate.
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            Razing the characters of your renown. --Shak.
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   2. To subvert from the foundation; to lay level with the
      ground; to overthrow; to destroy; to demolish.
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            The royal hand that razed unhappy Troy. --Dryden.
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   Syn: To demolish; level; prostrate; overthrow; subvert;
        destroy; ruin. See Demolish.
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