Rasing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Scraping or wiping something out of existence on a surface ; tearing down or flattening a building until it is level with the ground
2. Removing writing or marks by scratching them away ; knocking down a structure so that it lies completely flat
3. Erasing marks by scraping them off a surface ; demolishing a building or leveling it completely to the ground

Etymology: "Rasing" is the present participle of "rase," a verb that is now rare outside its older senses of rushing about in fury or tearing something away. The verb came into Middle English as "rasen," meaning to rage or to enrage, and it probably came from Middle Dutch "râsen" or "râzen," which could mean being extremely angry, raving, or talking nonsense. Its deeper ancestry is a Germanic word for rushing, which goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to flow or rush. The verb also became entangled with two other English words. One was "race" in its old sense of pluck, pull off, or snatch, and the other was "raze," meaning to tear down or scrape away. Because the three words overlapped in sound and in the idea of violent removal, "rase" picked up some of their meanings, and "raze" is the form most people now recognise. Its sense of destruction and demolition comes largely from that tangle rather than from rage.