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reave

1  [reev]
Use reave in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), reaved or reft, reav⋅ing. Archaic.
to take away by or as by force; plunder; rob.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME reven, OE rēafian; c. G rauben, D roven to rob

reave

2  [reev]
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object), reaved or reft, reav⋅ing.
Archaic. to rend; break; tear.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME; appar. special use of reave 1 (by assoc. with rive )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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reave 1   (rēv)   
v.   reaved or reft (rěft), reav·ing, reaves Archaic

v.   tr.
  1. To seize and carry off forcibly.
  2. To deprive (one) of something; bereave.
v.   intr.
To rob, plunder, or pillage.

[Middle English reven, to plunder, from Old English rēafian; see reup- in Indo-European roots.]
reave 2   (rēv)   
tr.v.   reaved or reft (rěft), reav·ing, reaves Archaic
To break or tear apart.

[Middle English reven, possibly alteration (influenced by reven, to plunder) of Old Norse rīfa, to rive.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Reave

Reave\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reaved, Reft, or Raft(obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Reaving.] [AS. re['a]fian, from re['a]f spoil, plunder, clothing, re['o]fan to break (cf. bire['o]fan to deprive of); akin to G. rauben to rob, Icel. raufa to rob, rj[=u]fa to break, violate, Goth. bir['a]ubon to despoil, L. rumpere to break; cf. Skr. lup to break. [root]114. Cf. Bereave, Rob, v. t., Robe, Rove, v. t., Rupture.] To take away by violence or by stealth; to snatch away; to rob; to despoil; to bereave. [Archaic]. "To reave his life." --Spenser.

He golden apples raft of the dragon. --Chaucer.

By privy stratagem my life at home. --Chapman.

To reave the orphan of his patrimony. --Shak.

The heaven caught and reft him of his tongue. --Tennyson.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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