ravage, depredation
(noun) (usually plural) a destructive action; “the ravages of time”; “the depredations of age and disease”
harry, ravage
(verb) make a pillaging or destructive raid on (a place), as in wartimes
Source: WordNet® 3.1
ravage (third-person singular simple present ravages, present participle ravaging, simple past and past participle ravaged)
(transitive) To devastate or destroy something.
(transitive) To pillage or sack something, to lay waste to something.
(intransitive) To wreak destruction.
ravage (plural ravages)
Grievous damage or havoc.
Depredation or devastation
Source: Wiktionary
Rav"age (; 48), n. Etym: [F., fr. (assumed) L. rapagium, rapaticum, fr. rapere to carry off by force, to ravish. See Rapacious, Ravish.]
Definition: Desolation by violence; violent ruin or destruction; devastation; havoc; waste; as, the ravage of a lion; the ravages of fire or tempest; the ravages of an army, or of time. Would one think 't were possible for love To make such ravage in a noble soul Addison.
Syn.
– Despoilment; devastation; desolation; pillage; plunder; spoil; waste; ruin.
Rav"age, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ravaged; p. pr. & vb. n. Ravaging.] Etym: [F. ravager. See Ravage, n.]
Definition: To lay waste by force; to desolate by violence; to commit havoc or devastation upon; to spoil; to plunder; to consume. Already Cæsar Has ravaged more than half the globe. Addison. His lands were daily ravaged, his cattle driven away. Macaulay.
Syn.
– To despoil; pillage; plunger; sack; spoil; devastate; desolate; destroy; waste; ruin.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
27 May 2025
(noun) the property of being directional or maintaining a direction; “the directionality of written English is from left to right”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
