Razee

Origin

French vaisseau rasé, from raser to rase, to cut down ships. See raze and rase (verbs).

Full definition of razee

Noun

1. (nautical) An armed ship with its upper deck cut away, and thus reduced to the next inferior rate, such as a seventy-four cut down to a frigate.

Verb

1. (nautical) To cut (a ship) down to a smaller number of decks, and thus to an inferior rate or class.
2. (figurative) To trim or abridge by cutting off parts.to razee a book, or an article
• 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick,"Aye, aye! it was that accursed white whale that razeed me; made a poor pegging lubber of me for ever and a day!"