Razeed

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. To have made something level with the ground, usually through demolition or destruction
2. to eliminate completely, particularly in referencing buildings
3. to cause a structure or area to become entirely flattened and devoid of its former presence

Etymology: "Razeed" is the past tense and past participle of "razee," a word that began as a term for a warship. In French, a "vaisseau rasé" was a vessel whose upper deck had been cut down, lowering its profile, and the term came from "raser," meaning to cut down ships. English borrowed the idea through the sense of shearing something off level, which is where the modern meaning of erasing something completely comes from. The verb "razee" and the verb "raze" are closely related: both trace back to the same French verb "raser," which carried the sense of scraping or shaving something flat. Over time the nautical meaning faded from common use, and the broader sense of tearing down or wiping out took over, especially for buildings.

Synonyms: cut down, demolished, leveled, destroyed, flattened