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”).
Meanings
Grievous damage or havoc.
Would one think 'twere possible for love / To make such ravage in a noble soul! 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 35:
Depredation or devastation.
the ravages of fire or tempest
[…]and another Swedish naturalist remarks, that so great are the powers of propagation of a single species, even of the smallest insects, that each can commit, when required, more ravages than the elephant. 1835, Charles Lyell, chapter VIII, in Principles of Geology […] , 4th edition, volume III, London: John Murray, Book III, page 114:
The villages on either side of the Meyn, which were plentifully stored with corn and cattle, felt the ravages of an invading army. 1781, Edward Gibbon, chapter XIX, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 172:
the ravage of a lion
the ravages of an army
the ravages of time
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
ravages
Number=Plur
lexicographic
Translations (25)
tr tahrip (depredation or devastation) · tr tahribat (grievous damage or havoc) · it devastazione (depredation or devastation) · fi tuho (grievous damage or havoc) · es estrago (grievous damage or havoc) · tr tahrip (grievous damage or havoc) · ro ravagiu (grievous damage or havoc) · fi hävitys (depredation or devastation) · da ødelæggelse (depredation or devastation) · ro devastare (depredation or devastation) · bg разруха (grievous damage or havoc) · tr yıkım (depredation or devastation) · oc ravatge (grievous damage or havoc) · tr hasar (depredation or devastation) · bg опустошение (depredation or devastation) · tr tahribat (depredation or devastation) · fi tuho (depredation or devastation) · da ødelæggelse (grievous damage or havoc) · ro ravagiu (depredation or devastation) · de Verwüstung (depredation or devastation) · pt devastação (depredation or devastation) · tr yıkım (grievous damage or havoc) · tr hasar (grievous damage or havoc) · pt estrago (grievous damage or havoc) · fi hävitys (grievous damage or havoc)
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”).
Meanings
(transitive) To devastate, destroy or lay waste to something.
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. 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:
Now Azaēlos, the king of Syria, made war on the Israelites and their king Jehu, and ravaged the eastern parts of the country across the Jordan […] spreading fire everywhere and plundering everything and inflicting violence on all who fell into his hands. 1937, Josephus, Ralph Marcus, transl., chapter VIII, in Josephus: With an English Translation (Loeb Classical Library), volume VI (Jewish Antiquities), London: William Heinemann Ltd.; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, published 1958, →OCLC, book IX, paragraph 1, page 87:
But the most important service which Probus rendered to the republic was the deliverance of Gaul, and the recovery of seventy flourishing cities oppressed by the barbarians of Germany, who, since the death of Aurelian, had ravaged that great province with impunity. 1776, Edward Gibbon, chapter XII, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, pages 334–335:
(transitive) To pillage or plunder destructively; to sack.
(intransitive) To wreak destruction.
(slang) To have vigorous sexual intercourse with.
(slang) To rape.
And luck in all its moods had to be loved and not feared. Bond saw luck as a woman, to be softly wooed or brutally ravaged, never pandered to or pursued. But he was honest enough to admit that he had never yet been made to suffer by cards or by women. 1953, Ian Fleming, “Rouge et Noir”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 48:
es devastar (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · cs zpustošit (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · mk ру́ши (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · sv härja (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · tr tahrip etmek (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · da ødelægge (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · fi tuhota (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · la populor (to pillage or plunder destructively) · ru опустоша́ть (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · ro prăda (to pillage or plunder destructively) · es asolar (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · bg опустошавам (to pillage or plunder destructively) · fi hävittää (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · uk сплюндрува́ти (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · da ødelægge (to wreak destruction) · az xaraba qoymaq (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · az yixmaq (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · gl estragar (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · tr yıkmak (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · uk розоря́ти (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · uk спусто́шувати (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · uk спусто́шити (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · es estragar (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · es desfigurar (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · tr yağmalamak (to pillage or plunder destructively) · az viran etmək (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · it devastare (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · nl teisteren (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · fa منهدم کردن (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · pt devastar (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · ar اِجْتَاحَ (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · pl pustoszyć (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · pt saquear (to pillage or plunder destructively) · uk пусто́шити (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · da plyndre (to pillage or plunder destructively) · cs vyplenit (to pillage or plunder destructively) · pt arruinar (to wreak destruction) · it distruggere (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · de verwüsten (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · uk плюндрува́ти (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · nl verwoesten (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · la populor (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · mi anea (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · es arrasar (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · cs plenit (to pillage or plunder destructively) · az dağıtmaq (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · la dēvastō (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · tr yakıp yıkmak (to pillage or plunder destructively) · sv ödelägga (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · mk пу́стоши (to pillage or plunder destructively) · cs pustošit (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · fi hävittää (to wreak destruction) · de zerstören (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · uk розори́ти (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · la vastō (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · cs zničit (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · ar خَرَبَ (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · pl niszczyć (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · fr ravager (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · bg разрушавам (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · pl dewastować (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · grc λυμαίνομαι (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something) · mk ра́зруши (to devastate, destroy or lay waste to something)