point-shaving

English

Verb

point-shaving

1. present participle and gerund of point-shave

Noun

point-shaving (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of point shaving (“type of match fixing”)
   • 1989, Lewis Cole, Never Too Young to Die: The Death of Len Bias, page 142:

     In point-shaving, the classic form of corruption in college basketball, a player or team controls by how many points it wins so gamblers can collect on bets.

   • 2001, Pamela Grundy, Learning to Win, page 224:

     By making it possible to manipulate game scores while preserving the thrills of victory, point-shaving deliberately severed links between the game itself and any broader moral meanings it might have offered, suggesting that the implicated athletes had already abandoned their belief in such connections.

   • 2013, Alfie Kohn, No Contest: The Case Against Competition:

     In athletics, this may take the form of point-shaving, college recruiting scandals, performance drugs — all of which are quickly becoming as commonplace as sixand seven-figure salaries for sports stars.

2. The process of making fine distinctions, especially in regards to behavior that is considered unacceptable versus behavior that is almost but not quite objectionable.
   • 1987, Paul Hendrickson, Seminary: A Search, page 163:

     Between unequivocal perverty behavior and, say, the light fevered brush-up against somebody's arm on a divan lay a multitude of point-shaving.

Usage notes

The noun is usually spelled point shaving, while this form is typically (although not exclusively) reserved for attributive use of the noun, as in "point-shaving scandal".