REAVE

plunder, despoil, loot, reave, strip, rifle, ransack, pillage, foray

(verb) steal goods; take as spoils; “During the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Verb

reave (third-person singular simple present reaves, present participle reaving, simple past and past participle reft or reaved)

(archaic) To plunder, pillage, rob, pirate, or remove.

(archaic) To deprive (a person) of something through theft or violence.

Etymology 2

Verb

reave (third-person singular simple present reaves, present participle reaving, simple past and past participle reft)

(archaic) To split, tear, break apart.

Source: Wiktionary


Reave, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reaved, Reft (, or Raft ( (obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Reaving.] Etym: [AS. reáfian, from reáf spoil, plunder, clothing, reófan to break (cf. bireófan to deprive of); akin to G. rauben to rob, Icel. raufa to rob, rjufa to break, violate, Goth. biráubon to despoil, L. rumpere to break; cf. Skr. lup to break. sq. root114. Cf. Bereave, Rob, v. t., Robe, Rove, v. t., Rupture.]

Definition: To take away by violence or by stealth; to snatch away; to rob; to despoil; to bereave. [Archaic]. "To reave his life." Spenser. He golden apples raft of the dragon. Chaucer. By privy stratagem my life at home. Chapman. To reave the orphan of his patrimony. Shak. The heaven caught and reft him of his tongue. Tennyson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 December 2024

QUANDONG

(noun) Australian tree having hard white timber and glossy green leaves with white flowers followed by one-seeded glossy blue fruit


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.

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