Idiom idiom
shave down
Meaning
To reduce something in size or thickness by gradually removing thin layers or cutting it down closely.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“You need to shave down the wood to make it fit.”
“The carpenter had to shave down the edges of the door so it would close properly.”
“To ensure the mechanism operated without friction, the engineer had to carefully shave down the metal components until they reached the precise dimensions required.”
Anchors to
Last updated August 10, 2026