| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
reft
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reave1
Audio Help [reev] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [reev] Pronunciation Key –verb (used with object), reaved or reft, reav·ing. Archaic.
| to take away by or as by force; plunder; rob. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
reave2
Audio Help [reev] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [reev] Pronunciation Key –verb (used with object), verb (used without object), reaved or reft, reav·ing.
| Archaic. to rend; break; tear. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
| reave 1
Audio Help (rēv) Pronunciation Key
v. reaved or reft (rěft), reav·ing, reaves Archaic v. tr.
v. intr. To rob, plunder, or pillage. [Middle English reven, to plunder, from Old English rēafian; see reup- in Indo-European roots.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| reave 2
Audio Help (rēv) Pronunciation Key
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 © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| reft 1
Audio Help (rěft) Pronunciation Key
v. A past tense and a past participle of reave1. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| reft 2
Audio Help (rěft) Pronunciation Key
v. A past tense and a past participle of reave2. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
reft
1847, pp. of reave, from O.E. reafian "to rob something from someone," from P.Gmc. *rauthojan (cf. O.Fris. raf, M.Du. roof, Ger. Raub). The ground sense seems to be that of "breaking."
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
Reft
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. |
Reft
Reft\ (r?ft), imp. & p. p. of Reave. Bereft. Reft of thy sons, amid thy foes forlorn. --Heber.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
REFT
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