raise, rear, rise, raze

Once it was maintained that people raised pigs and corn and reared children. Careful speakers preserve this distinction, but the general public does not; therefore, you can raise or rear as many children as you can afford, with no purist in language to prevent you. The noun raise (a raise in pay) is also standard, although rise (a rise in pay) was once considered the only proper term in this construction. The expression "pay raise" is wordy. The verb raise is always transitive; the verb rise is always intransitive: One's arm rises; one raises his arm. Raise and raze are antonyms in the sense that raise means "to elevate," "to lift," whereas raze means "to tear down": "The workmen raised the scaffolding and then razed it." Try to avoid such clichés as "raise one's sights," "raise Cain," "raise hell," "raise money," "raise a siege," "rise to the occasion," "rise above the commonplace," "rise in the world," "rise to one's responsibilities," "rise from the dead," "rise on one's hind legs," "feel the yeast rising," "rear guard," and "bring up the rear." A horse rears (pronounced "reers") up on its hindlegs, not rares (rhymes with dares) up.