Ravin
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Property obtained or seized by force or violence; booty, plunder, spoils. archaic, countable, literary, uncountable
- 2 Of a (predatory) animal: seizing or devouring of food or prey; predation. archaic, literary, uncountable
- 3 Gluttony, greed, rapacity; also, the quality of being predatory; predatoriness. archaic, figuratively, literary, uncountable
- 4 A predatory animal; a predator. archaic, countable, literary, obsolete, rare
- 5 Obtaining or seizing property by force or violence; pillage, plunder, robbery; (countable, chiefly in the plural) an instance of this. archaic, literary, obsolete, uncountable
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- 6 That which a predatory animal seizes for food; prey; also (hunting) an animal which is hunted; quarry. archaic, literary, obsolete, uncountable
"Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw / With ravine, shriek'd against his creed"
- 1 Sometimes followed by away or from: to obtain or seize (something, especially property) by force or violence; to plunder. archaic, literary, transitive
"[They] aſſaulted by night a certen aũciẽt [auncient] gentleman at home in his owne houſe, which had done thē [them] no diſpleaſure, and being a ſlepe in his bed at their cõming [comming], whan he had hardly eſcaped awaye half naked, rauening and diſtroying his goodes, they ſpoyled his wyfe and chyldren of all theyr apparell, and threatening them ofte with death, left thẽ [them] ſtarck naked, in ſo muche that one of the Nobilitie comming thither by chaunce, couered the woman with his owne garment."
- 2 Sometimes followed by down, up, or (obsolete) in: to eat (something, such as food or prey) greedily; to devour, to wolf down. archaic, literary, transitive
"Her princes in the middes thereof are like vvolues, rauening yͤ pray [prey] to ſhed blood, and to ſhed blood, and to deſtroye ſoules for their ovvne couetous lucre."
- 3 To absorb or take in (something, such as information) greedily; also, to approach or pounce on (someone) like prey. archaic, figuratively, literary, transitive
"[S]he fenced them in their need / With iron-handed Duty's sternest creed, / 'Gainst Self's lean wolf that ravens word and deed."
- 4 Followed by about, after, or for: to go after or seek for something, especially booty or spoils; to maraud, to plunder; also (generally), to move about wildly and cause damage; to rampage. archaic, intransitive, literary
"[T]he Inhabitants of the Countrey, a barbarous and inhumane people (as generally Sea-borderers are) and inur'd to the ſpoil of VVracks, vvere not over haſty to acquaint the Duke's Officers vvith this, that they might not be diſturbed vvhilst buſie ravening after Booty."
- 5 To eat greedily; also, followed by on or upon: of an animal: to prey on. archaic, intransitive, literary
"The couaitous deſyre of riche men is euer vnſaciable. It always raueneth and neuer is ſatisfied."
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- 6 Sometimes followed by about or on: to move about searching for food or prey ravenously. archaic, intransitive, literary
"[T]he Arms and Hands of the Bear, […] are his ſtrength and inſtrument of action to raven and prey vvith; […]"
- 7 Sometimes followed by after or for: to have a ravenous appetite or craving for food or prey. archaic, intransitive, literary
"[B]ecause hogs are commonly rauening for their meat, more then other cattel, it is meet therefore to haue them ringed, or elſe they will doe much hurt in digging and turning vp corne fieldes, […]"
- 8 Originally followed by with: to experience great hunger; to be ravenous. archaic, intransitive, literary
"For hovv […] ſhall I knovv thee to be a man, vvhen thou kickeſt like an aſſe, neygheſt like an Horſe after vvomen, raueſt in luſt like a Bull, raueneſt like a Beare, ſtingeſt like a Scorpion, rakeſt like a VVolfe, as ſuttle as a Foxe, as impudent as a Dogge; ſhall I ſay thou art man that haſt all the Symptomes of a beaſt?"
- 9 To take and exploit or make use of greedily. archaic, figuratively, intransitive, literary
- 10 Sometimes followed by after or for: to have a strong craving or desire for, or to do, something; to crave, to desire, to yearn. archaic, figuratively, intransitive, literary
"Here's my brother thirsting, ravening to make your acquaintance—and by George! you are in luck's way, young hopeful, to make his."
- 1 Ravenous. archaic, literary, obsolete
"Better 'twere / I met the ravin lion when he roared / With sharp constraint of hunger;"
Example
More examples"Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw / With ravine, shriek'd against his creed"
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English ravin, ravine, raven (“rapine, robbery; rape; force, violence; greed, rapacity; stolen goods, booty, plunder; prey, quarry; pursuit of prey; predatoriness, voracity”), from Anglo-Norman ravein, raveine, ravine (“rapine, robbery; rape; force, violence; greed, rapacity; impetuousness; stolen goods”), Middle French ravine, and Old French ravine (“rapine, robbery; force, violence; impetuousness”), from Latin rapīna (“pillage, plunder, robbery, rapine; booty, plunder”), from rapiō (“to abduct, carry off; to grab, snatch; to rape; to steal”) (from Proto-Italic *rapjō (“to seize, take away”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rep- (“to snatch”)) + -īna (suffix forming abstract nouns). The adjective is derived from Middle English ravin, ravine (“predatory; ravenous”), from Middle English ravin, ravine (noun): see above. The verb is not attested before the 16th century, but words like Middle English raviner, ravinour (“plunderer; robber; rapist; predator”), ravening (“act of robbery; predatoriness, rapacity”, noun), and ravening, ravining (“(adjective) savage, ravening; (noun) preceded by ‘the’: the devil”) suggest that it existed in the 14th and 15th centuries, and was probably derived from the noun. Compare Middle French raviner (“to make furrows”), Old French raviner (“to take by force; to rush; to stream”) (modern French raviner)
Related phrases
More for "ravin"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.