razor-backedadj.
/ˈreɪzəbakt/, U.S. /ˈreɪzərˌbækt/ 1. Of an animal: having a narrow back with a prominent ridge-like spine; cf. razorback n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [adjective] > relating to the back > razor-backed
razor-backed1807
1807 R. Fraser Statist. Surv. County Wexford ii. 116 Long-legged, razor-backed, large-boned, wretched animals, the very worst of the worst breeds form the common herd of pigs in this county.
1829 Sporting Mag. 24 116 A razor-backed yellow tit.
1846 W. Youatt Pig (1847) vi. 69 The old Cornish hog, a large..razor-backed animal.
1956 Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 59 362 Except for the few specimens six years old or older, drum were decidedly razor-backed and hollow-bellied.
1972 Jrnl. Herpetol. 6 183 Seasonal testicular and follicular changes were studied in..the razor-backed musk turtle.
1993 Hamilton (Ont.) Spectator (Nexis) 1 May w18 She effuses on the nastiness of the swinging chimpanzees, the drollness of the razor-backed iguana.
2. Of a hill or other geographical feature: having or forming a narrow, steep-sided ridge; = razorback adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > ridge > [adjective] > sharp
razorback1847
razor-backed1847
1847 F. W. L. Leichhardt Jrnl. Overland Exped. Austral. 151 Now to the west of our course, peaks, razor-backed hills, and tents, similar to those we had observed when travelling at the west side of the river.
1885 Times (Weekly ed.) 13 Feb. 1/3 A high ridge of razor-backed hills.
1904 Daily Chron. 12 May 5/3 A fierce struggle ensued for the possession of two razor-backed ridges above which runs the main Peking road.
1927 Blackwood's Mag. Oct. 470/1 A steep razor-backed hill, covered with ragged clumps of button-grass and dwarfed ti-tree.
1994 Jrnl. Field Archaeol. 21 183/1 The gently rolling farmlands give way to a series of razor-backed hills that dominate the western portion of the area.
Compounds
razor-backed hog n. U.S. = razorback n. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > pig > [noun] > defined by parts
razor-backed hog1836
razorback1845
scissorbill1871
1836 Cultivator Nov. 137 The same corn that will make 100 lbs. of pork upon a long-legged, long-snouted, razor-backed hog, will put 150 or 200 lbs. upon the frame of a Berkshire or other improved breed.
1886 ‘C. E. Craddock’ In Clouds in Atlantic Monthly Feb. 200/2 In a corner of the rickety rail fence a gaunt, razor-backed hog lay grunting drowsily.
1923 L. Carrier Beginnings Agric. in Amer. xxii. 274 Two razor-backed hogs..could be raised in the woods at practically no outlay by the planter.
1990 J. Houston In Search of Happiness (BNC) 192 The vision of herself as a razor-backed hog with warts on its face haunts her.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1807