ravin
Definition
Noun (archaic or poetic):
- The act of plundering or seizing prey: "ravin" refers to the violent taking of food or goods, especially by predatory animals or in a context of forceful seizure.
- Prey or booty: It can also denote the object of such seizure, i.e., the food or goods taken by force.
Verb (rare):
- To devour greedily or seize violently: Used primarily in older or poetic English to describe the act of eating or taking something with ferocity.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- The lion, a beast of ravin, stalked its prey across the savanna. (A predatory animal that seizes prey.)
- The soldiers returned from the raid laden with ravin. (Goods seized as booty.)
Verb:
- The starving wolves ravin upon the carcass of the deer. (They devour it greedily and violently.)
Advanced Usage
"beast of ravin": A set phrase meaning a predatory animal.
- In medieval bestiaries, the wolf is often depicted as a beast of ravin. (A creature that lives by plundering and killing.)
"to live by ravin": To survive through plunder or predation.
- The pirates lived by ravin, attacking merchant ships for their cargo. (They sustained themselves through violent seizure.)
Variants and Related Words
Ravening (adj): characterized by or showing a fierce, greedy desire to devour.
- The ravening crowd tore apart the supplies. (The crowd was aggressively and greedily seizing things.)
Ravenous (adj): extremely hungry or greedy (etymologically related, though distinct in modern use).
- After the long hike, he was ravenous. (Very hungry — note: this word is more common than "ravin" today.)
Synonyms
- Plunder (n): the act of taking goods by force.
- Prey (n): an animal hunted for food.
- Booty (n): valuable items seized in war or theft.
Related Idioms
- "To make ravin of": To plunder or consume greedily.
- The invaders made ravin of the village's stores. (They seized and consumed everything violently.)
Notes on Usage
- This word is now archaic or poetic. It appears primarily in older literature (e.g., Shakespeare, Spenser) and is rarely used in modern conversation or writing. Its modern equivalent is "rapine" (for plunder) or "ravenousness" (for greed).