Rased

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Pulled down or flattened to the ground, as a building or settlement is destroyed ; scraped out or wiped away from a written surface
2. Completely demolished and leveled to the ground ; erased or scratched out of a page or document
3. Torn down until nothing stands above ground level ; rubbed out or obliterated by scraping a surface clean

Etymology: "Rased" is the past tense of "rase", which means to tear down completely, and it is a spelling variant of "raze" that has its own history. Most of the story belongs to "raze", which entered English in Middle English as "rasen", a verb meaning to rage or be enraged. The source for that sense is probably Middle Dutch "râsen" or "râzen", which could describe an angry person, a madman talking nonsense, or a rabid dog. Behind those lies an ancient idea of rushing, since the Proto-Germanic root meant "to rush", and Swedish "rasa" still means "rage" today. The sense of tearing down arrived by a different path. The verb "race" once meant to pluck, pull off, or snatch, and "race" in that sense was partly influenced by "raze", so the two words blended. The result is that "rase" and "rased" appear as variant spellings, and both forms carry the meaning of violent removal rather than rage.