to shave a customer
Preserved but no longer current.
A draper's expression for charging more for an article than it is worth; because, so it is said, when the manager sees a chance of doing this he strokes his chin as a sign to the assistant that he may fleece the customer all he can.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to shave a customer” mean?
A draper's expression for charging more for an article than it is worth; because, so it is said, when the manager sees a chance of doing this he strokes his chin as a sign to the assistant that he may fleece the customer all he can.
Is “to shave a customer” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.