[reyd] 
| 1. | a sudden assault or attack, as upon something to be seized or suppressed: a police raid on a gambling ring. |
| 2. | Military. a sudden attack on the enemy, as by air or by a small land force. |
| 3. | a vigorous, large-scale effort to lure away a competitor's employees, members, etc. |
| 4. | Finance. a concerted attempt of speculators to force stock prices down. |
| 5. | to make a raid on. |
| 6. | to steal from; loot: a worry that the investment fund is being raided. |
| 7. | to entice away from another: Large companies are raiding key personnel from smaller companies. |
| 8. | to indulge oneself by taking from, esp. in order to eat: raiding the cookie jar. |
| 9. | to engage in a raid. |
| raid (rād) n.
v. tr. To make a raid on. v. intr. To conduct a raid or participate in one. [Scots, raid on horseback, from Middle English rade, from Old English rād, a riding, road; see reidh- in Indo-European roots.] raid'er n. Word History: Few soldiers traveling a road to carry out a raid would connect the words road and raid. However, both descend from the same Old English word rād. Old English rād meant "the act of riding" and "the act of riding with a hostile intent; that is, a raid," senses that no longer exist for our word road. The ai in raid represents the standard development in the northern dialects of Old English long a, while the oa in road represents the standard development of Old English long a in the rest of the English dialects. It was left to Sir Walter Scott to revive the Scots form raid with the sense "a military expedition on horseback." The Scots were not the only ones conducting raids, however. We find these words in the Middle English Coventry Leet Book: "aftur a Rode ... made uppon the Scottes at thende of this last somer." While road is not used in this way any more in English, a trace of this usage is still detectable in the compound inroad, literally "a riding or advance on or in." |
| RAID redundant array of inexpensive disks |
