Middle English Dictionary Entry

rāsen v.(1)
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Entry Info

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1.
(a) To scrape (sth.); also, shave (sb., somebody's crown); (b) to make erasures; erase (writing, a passage of writing, etc.); scrape (a page, book) clean; emend (a document) by erasure; ~ awei (oute); (c) in various fig. senses: to expunge (sth.), obliterate (sb.), alter (belief); (d) ppl. rased as adj., of a strickle: smoothed.
2.
(a) To strip off (an outer covering), pull (sth.) off; ~ awei (of); (b) to tear out (sth.), pluck out; root out (trees, etc.); also fig.; ~ oute (up); (c) to pull away (sb. or sth.), snatch; also fig.; ~ awei; (d) to pull down (sb. or sth.), knock (sth.) down; ~ a)doun; (e) to come apart, tear; tear (sb. or sth.) apart, rend (one's garments); (f) to deprive (a city) of money, pick clean, strip.
3.
(a) To cleave (sth.), slice, cut apart; sever (an arm, etc.); ppl. rased as adj.: broken; ~ awei, cut off (sth.); ~ doun, mow down (helmets); (b) to lacerate (sb.), slash; cut into (a shield, armor), score; tear (someone's flesh, body, etc.); fig. pierce (a heart); (c) to carve (sth.), engrave; also fig.; ppl. rased as adj.: embossed; rased bitwixen, carved in relief, embossed; (d) to dig (the ground), trench; ~ for, ?dig for (gold); in ~, dig, delve; (e) to slash (shoes) ornamentally.
4.
Her. ppl. i)rased as adj.: (a) of the head of a raven, etc.: drawn with a jagged base as if torn from the body, erased; (b) of arms: quartered by jagged borders produced by the scraping away of paint.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • a1400 Trin-C O.9.39 Recipes (Trin-C O.9.39) 20/31 : Ȝyf þyn maters cleve enyþyng to þe pannys syde, take þe a treen platere and anoynte hit with some of þyn vnce oyle byfore kept, and þyn hondes also, and reyse hit from þy panne al aboute.
  • Note: Glossary: "reyse v. imp. 'scrape'."
    Note: Antedates sense (a), new spelling.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • a1500 Hrl.218 Artist.Recipes (Hrl 218) 299/30 : Forto rason parchement without knyffe. Take roche alym and bren hym to pouder, [etc.].
  • Note: Glossary: "rason v. inf. 'erase (literally 'scrape')'."
    Note: Postdates sense (b), new spelling.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • a1500 Jul.Artist.Recipes (Jul D.8) 144/3 : Take leþer wel tawede and raskede in boþe sydes, and wete hit.
  • Note: Prob. error for 'rasede' ('scraped'). Clarke notes of raskede: "Literally = 'stretched', but here presumably understand as 'rasped', since..a skin cannot be stretched on one side only."