Ravage

//ˈɹævɪd͡ʒ// noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Grievous damage or havoc.

    "Would one think 'twere possible for love / To make such ravage in a noble soul!"

  2. 2
    (usually plural) a destructive action wordnet
  3. 3
    Depredation or devastation.

    "the ravages of fire or tempest"

Verb
  1. 1
    To devastate, destroy or lay waste to something. transitive

    "Already Cæſar Has ravaged more than half the Globe, and ſees Mankind grown thin by his deſtructive Sword: Should he go further, Numbers would be wanting To form new Battels, and ſupport his Crimes."

  2. 2
    cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly wordnet
  3. 3
    To pillage or plunder destructively; to sack. transitive
  4. 4
    make a pillaging or destructive raid on (a place), as in wartimes wordnet
  5. 5
    To wreak destruction. intransitive
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    To have vigorous sexual intercourse with. slang
  2. 7
    To rape. slang

Synonyms

All synonyms
desolatedestroydevastateharryharrywaste

Example

More examples

"War, disease, and famine continue to ravage the poverty-stricken country, despite the decades-long international effort to ameliorate the situation."

Etymology

From French ravage (“ravage, havoc, spoil”), from ravir (“to bear away suddenly”), from Latin rapere (“to snatch, seize”), akin to Ancient Greek ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “to seize”).

Related phrases

lay waste

More for "ravage"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.