raven Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun large black bird with a straight bill and long wedge-shaped tail
    Corvus corax.
  2. verb obtain or seize by violence
  3. verb prey on or hunt for
    predate; prey.
    • These mammals predate certain eggs
  4. verb eat greedily
    devour; pig; guttle.
    • he devoured three sandwiches
  5. verb feed greedily
    • The lions ravened the bodies

WordNet

Ra"ven noun
Etymology
AS. hræfn; akin to raaf, G. rabe, OHG. hraban, Icel. hrafn, Dan. ravn, and perhaps to L. corvus, Gr. . .
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) A large black passerine bird (Corvus corax), similar to the crow, but larger. It is native of the northern part of Europe, Asia and America, and is noted for its sagacity.
Ra"ven adjective
Definitions
  1. Of the color of the raven; jet black; as, raven curls; raven darkness. raven-haired
Rav"en noun
Etymology
OF. ravine impetuosity, violence, F. ravine ravine. See Ravine, Rapine.
Definitions
  1. Rapine; rapacity. Ray.
  2. Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.
Rav"en transitive verb
Etymology
Written also ravin, and ravine.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Ravened ; present participle & verbal noun Ravening
Definitions
  1. To obtain or seize by violence. Hakewill.
  2. To devoir with great eagerness.
    Like rats that ravin down their proper bane. Shak.
Rav"en intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity. Written also ravin, and ravine.
    Benjamin shall raven as a wolf. Gen. xlix. 27.

Webster 1913