ravage

[ rav-ij ]
See synonyms for: ravageravagedravagesravaging on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),rav·aged, rav·ag·ing.
  1. to work havoc upon; damage or mar by ruinous or destructive action:a face ravaged by grief.

verb (used without object),rav·aged, rav·ag·ing.
  1. to work havoc; do ruinous damage.

noun
  1. havoc; ruinous damage: the ravages of war.

  2. devastating or destructive action.

Origin of ravage

1
First recorded in 1605–15; from French, Middle French, equivalent to rav(ir) “to snatch away, ravish” + -age -age; see ravish

synonym study For ravage

1. Ravage, devastate, lay waste all refer, in their literal application, to the wholesale destruction of a countryside by an invading army (or something comparable). Lay waste has remained the closest to the original meaning of destruction of land: The invading army laid waste the towns along the coast. But ravage and devastate are used in reference to other types of violent destruction and may also have a purely figurative application. Ravage is often used of the results of epidemics: The Black Plague ravaged 14th-century Europe; and even of the effect of disease or suffering on the human countenance: a face ravaged by despair. Devastate, in addition to its concrete meaning ( vast areas devastated by bombs ), may be used figuratively: a devastating remark.

Other words for ravage

Opposites for ravage

Other words from ravage

  • rav·age·ment, noun
  • rav·ag·er, noun

Words that may be confused with ravage

Words Nearby ravage

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ravage in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ravage

ravage

/ (ˈrævɪdʒ) /


verb
  1. to cause extensive damage to

noun
  1. (often plural) destructive action: the ravages of time

Origin of ravage

1
C17: from French, from Old French ravir to snatch away, ravish

Derived forms of ravage

  • ravagement, noun
  • ravager, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012