Ravin

Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw / With ravine, shriek'd against his creed

Better 'twere / I met the ravin lion when he roared / With sharp constraint of hunger;

[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.

Hee changed his vvages tenne times, ſought to eat him vp, & to rauin all hee could get from him.

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.

[C]ertaine young men vvhom they call Giamoglans, vvith others that ſtood round about them, ſnatcht it [the food] haſtily vp as their fees, and like greedie Harpies rauened it dovvne in a moment.

In the morning giue them [horses] barley or prouender, a little at a time in diſtinct or ſeueral portions, tvvice or thrice one after another, ſo as he may chevv and eke diſgeſt it thoroughly, othervviſe if he rauen it, as he vvil do hauing much at a time, he rendreth it in his dung vvhole and not diſgeſted.

A Lion nevv returnde from rauening pray [prey], / came to the fount, his blood to vvaſh avvay.

[A]t this present I am in a very urgent necessity to feed, […] if you will but set me to work, it will be as good as a balsamum for sore eyes to see me gulch and raven it, for Gods sake, give order for it.

[…] I beheld two spirits by the ice / Pent in one hollow, that the head of one / Was cowl unto the other; and as bread / Is raven'd up through hunger, th' uppermost / Did so apply his fangs to th' other's brain, / Where the spine joins it.

Clusters of grapes, the which they raven'd quick / And roar'd for more; […]

[S]he fenced them in their need / With iron-handed Duty's sternest creed, / 'Gainst Self's lean wolf that ravens word and deed.

But some characters in books are very real—Jane Austen's are; and I know those five Bennets at the opening of Pride and Prejudice, simply waiting to raven the young men at Netherfield Park, are not giving one thought to the real facts of marriage.

[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.

A scandal to be seen, how his Croats and loose hordes went openly ravening about, bent on mere housebreaking, street-robbery and insolent violence.

The couaitous deſyre of riche men is euer vnſaciable. It always raueneth and neuer is ſatisfied.

For he [Daphnis] had doubled the number [of goats] he had received of Lamo, nor had the Wolf raven'd away so much as one, and they were all more twaddling fat then the very sheep.

[I]t is his [Satan's] Maſtery to ſpread an unſeen venome in the Bovvels, thence to diffuſe its ſelf through't, mix vvith the vital ſpirit, and convert that kindly heat vvhich ſhould animate, into thoſe vvild irregular flames vvhich ravine and conſume.

[T]he outdoor dogs […] were permitted to raven unchecked upon chicken bones, fat slices of ham, and luscious leavings of cream when the packing-up time came.

And the hound Time, when all the Worlds and cities are swept away whereon he used to raven, having no more to devour, shall suddenly die.

Now, if ye hear the bruit of death or wounds, / Give not yourselves o'ermuch to shriek and scream, / For Ares ravins upon human flesh.

I refer to the danger of keeping a dog of this nature and disposition in a bedroom, where it can spring out ravening on anyone who enters.

[T]he Arms and Hands of the Bear, […] are his ſtrength and inſtrument of action to raven and prey vvith; […]

[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, […]

They passed along towards the great hall-door, where the winds howled and ravened for their prey; […]