Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- To seize with rapacity, especially food; prey upon; ravage. See
ravined . - To subject to rapine or ravage; obtain or take possession of by violence.
- To devour with great eagerness; eat with voracity; swallow greedily.
- To prey with rapacity; show rapacity.
- noun Applied in Australia to one of the larger crows, Corvus coronoides.
- noun Plunder; rapine; robbery; rapacity; furious violence.
- noun Plunder; prey; food obtained with rapacity.
- noun A bird of the larger species of the genus Corvus, having the feathers of the throat lanceolate and distinct from one another.
- noun A kind of fish. See
sea-raven and Hemitripteridæ. - Black as a raven; evenly and glossily or lustrously black: as, raven locks.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A large black passerine bird (
Corvus corax ), similar to the crow, but larger, and has a harsh, loud call. It is native of the northern parts of Europe, Asia and America, and is noted for its sagacity. - noun (Zoöl.) the cormorant.
- intransitive verb To prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity.
- noun Rapine; rapacity.
- noun Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.
- adjective Of the color of the raven; jet black
- transitive verb To obtain or seize by violence.
- transitive verb To devour with great eagerness.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A common name for several, generally large and lustrous black species of
birds in the genusCorvus , especially thecommon raven , Corvus corax. - adjective Of the color of the raven;
jet-black - noun
Rapine ;rapacity . - noun
Prey ;plunder ; food obtained byviolence . - verb archaic To
obtain orseize byviolence . - verb To
devour with greateagerness . - verb To
prey withrapacity ; to begreedy ; to showrapacity .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb prey on or hunt for
- verb feed greedily
- verb eat greedily
- verb obtain or seize by violence
- noun large black bird with a straight bill and long wedge-shaped tail
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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'There is a little gristle,' says Tubervile, 'which is upon the spoone of the brisket, which we call the raven's bone; and I have seen in some places a raven so wont and accustomed to it, that she would never fail to croak and cry for it all the time you were in breaking up of the deer, and would not depart till she had it.'
The Lady of the Lake Walter Scott 1801
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Said raven is named Mortimer and stars in a number of books by Joan Aiken (She of Wolves of Willoughby Chase fame).
Oh, how cool is that?!? A tidbit about Bernard Cribbins rabid1st 2009
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The part of the movie where they show Victoria running, and the raven is frozen in midair because she is supposed to be going so fast, I loved it.
'New Moon' director Chris Weitz: 'This was made for the fans' | EW.com 2009
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The raven is this complete entrepreneur, outside of Noahs agenda, strange and heady, from a myth thousands of years old, predating the Bible.
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Here, the raven is none other than the creator of the world, who teaches people how to live.
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Said raven is named Mortimer and stars in a number of books by Joan Aiken (She of Wolves of Willoughby Chase fame).
Oh, how cool is that?!? A tidbit about Bernard Cribbins rabid1st 2009
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The reason I raven is because I'm still trying to drop some weight for climbing, and in practical terms that means a lot of going to bed hungry.
"Great. More drinking on the job." truepenny 2008
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And did not I fear for thy sake, I would not let a single sun arise before making his city a ruined heap wherein raven should croak and howlet hoot, and jackal and wolf harbour and loot; nay I had removed its very stones to the back side of Mount Kaf.
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Then Marian tells how, when the huntsmen cut up the stag, they threw the bone called the raven's bone to one that sat and croaked for it.
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'Brother,' said Loveleaves, 'this raven is surely hungry; let us give it a little bit, though it is our last cake.'
reesetee commented on the word raven
Nevermore!
February 1, 2007
uselessness commented on the word raven
I never saw a purple cow
But if I were to see one
Would the probability ravens are black
Have a better chance to be one?
-Gelett Burgess
June 18, 2007
vanishedone commented on the word raven
For those wondering, the poem must be a reference to Hempel's Paradox.
I thought WeirdNet usually put noun definitions first, but here it's gone for verb definitions—because there are more of them, maybe? Or just because it's WeirdNet?
August 15, 2008
sionnach commented on the word raven
Personally, I think Professor Hempel could benefit by deepening his knowledge of the work of that eminent clergyman, Thomas Bayes.
Because, as George Box has famously noted:
"There's no theorem like Bayes Theoreom, like no theorem I know ....
Everything about it is exci-i-ting...."
and so on
and so forth
August 15, 2008
reesetee commented on the word raven
*wondering what Buenos Aires has done to sionnach*
August 15, 2008
bilby commented on the word raven
*nods gravely*
August 15, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word raven
sionnach, do you remember the scarf file?
September 8, 2008
frindley commented on the word raven
"The Raven" as a limerick
There once was a girl named Lenore
And a bird and a bust and a door
And a guy with depression
And a whole lot of questions
And the bird always says "Nevermore."
(from Famous Poems Rewritten as Limericks)
October 25, 2008
bilby commented on the word raven
Ha, I like them! Especially:
There once was a poet named Will
Who tramped his way over a hill
And was speechless for hours
Over some stupid flowers
This was years before TV, but still.
October 25, 2008
tbtabby commented on the word raven
Spy lingo for a male agent who uses the honey trap to entrap women into becoming spies. A spy gigolo, if you will.
August 26, 2009
duckbill commented on the word raven
"The plump, glossy little Eskimo girls with their fish smell, hideous raven hair and guinea pig faces, evoked even less desire in me than Dr. Johnson had."
Nobakov, Lolita
March 1, 2011