Verb

1. To demolish; to level to the ground.

   The word ‘laconic’ derives from Lakon (“person from Lakonia”) the district around Sparta in southern Greece in ancient times, whose inhabitants were famous for their brevity of speech. When Philip of Macedon threatened them with, “If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground,” the Spartans’ reply was, “If.”

2. To scrape as if with a razor.