Make Your Point: RAZE

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pronounce RAZE:

RAZE

connect this word to others:

Here's Percy Jackson in the movie The Sea of Monsters:

"'A single choice shall end his days. Olympus to preserve or raze.' And that is 'raze,' with a Z. As in 'destroy.' I asked."

Yup: raising a mythic mountain is quite different from razing one.

That word raze traces back to the Latin radere, "to scrape," and is closely related to words like rash, erase, razor, __ras__ ("tending to scrape or irritate you"), and tabula rasa.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

Literally "to scrape or shave," the word "raze" has been around in English since the 1300s. It first meant "to scrape, to shave" and then "to erase, to obliterate." That more intense meaning has stuck around.

Today, to raze something is to tear it down or destroy it completely, as if you're scraping away every last bit.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, the transitive kind: "They raised the old factory to the ground;" "Fires razed the town."

Other forms:

The other verb forms are "razed" and "razing."

If you need some adjectives, you can describe things like buildings as "razed" or "unrazed," and describe things like fire and tornadoes as "razing."

We don't often use a noun form of "raze." But if you need one, try just "razing," as in "Although tornado warnings went off for weeks, no one expected the razing of the neighborhood." And for the people or forces that raze things, you can call them "razers." Spell check will try to correct you to "razors," which is close, but not precisely what you meant. Hold your ground!

how to use it:

Pick the formal, semi-common, powerful, violent word "raze" when you need to emphasize the totality with which something has been destroyed.

We most often talk about razing buildings or neighborhoods or even cities, or razing them to the ground.

Razing is usually literal. But you can get figurative, if you like, and talk about people razing things like cultures, traditions, unfair systems, or walls between people.

examples:

"Minos invaded the country, captured Athens and declared that he would raze it to the ground unless every nine years the people sent him a tribute of seven maidens and seven youths."
— Edith Hamilton, Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, 1942

"[Rick Pero] knew the danger after surviving the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history in 2018 - which razed the town of Paradise and took 85 lives. His home was incinerated."
— Regan Morris, BBC, 3 August 2024

has this page helped you understand "raze"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "raze" without saying "demolish" or "obliterate."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "They razed (some place), where (something used to happen)."

Example 1: "To build a grocery store, they razed the field where we gathered wildflowers."

Example 2: "They are going to raze the Time and a Half Pool Hall, where feet in long tan shoes once pointed down from chair rungs."
— Toni Morrison, Sula, 1973

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "That's Not a Thing, That's Two Things."

I describe it; you name it! For example, if I give you "It's that thing where Steve Harvey hosts two groups competing as vassals in medieval Europe," then you give me "Family Feudalism." To see the answer, scroll to the bottom.

Try this last one today:

It's that quaint black-and-white thing from the 1950s where a young boy causes mischief while playing air guitar and/or running around declaring himself "Cornholio."

review this word:

1. Opposites of RAZE include

A. EDGE and TRIM.
B. BUILD and CREATE.
C. DETRACT and PROTEST.

2. In Nicola Yoon's The Sun is Also a Star, Natasha "feels like her entire world is being razed" as _____.

A. she's offered a starring role on Broadway
B. she and her family are about to be deported
C. she suddenly realizes she wants to be an astronaut

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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