bereave
Americanverb (used with object)
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to deprive and make desolate, especially by death (usually followed byof ).
Illness bereaved them of their mother.
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to deprive ruthlessly or by force (usually followed byof ).
The war bereaved them of their home.
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Obsolete. to take away by violence.
verb
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(usually foll by of) to deprive (of) something or someone valued, esp through death
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obsolete to remove by force
Usage
What does bereave mean? To bereave means to take away and leave devastated. Death bereaves us of our loved ones.Bereave can also mean to deprive by force, as in War has bereaved them of their homes. Those who are devastated by the loss of loved ones can be described as bereaved or bereft. These words can also apply to those who have suffered other serious losses.Bereave is most often used in the context of death. The noun form of bereave is bereavement, referring to a period of mourning or or state of intense grief, especially following the death of a loved one. Bereavement can also be used more generally to mean the state of having lost something very dear.Example: Violence has bereaved us of yet another young person.
Other Word Forms
- bereavement noun
- bereaver noun
Etymology
Origin of bereave
First recorded before 900; Middle English bereven, Old English berēafian; cognate with Dutch berooven, German berauben, Gothic biraubōn; equivalent to be- + reave 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If the bereaved person does not immediately respond, he says you should not be surprised.
From BBC
Yet human rights advocates and bereaved families believe they may be in the hundreds.
From BBC
Each of the four organisations has apologised to the bereaved families and to the survivors, lawyers for the claimants said, and have acknowledged their failures.
From BBC
They added coroners were independent, and that "bereaved families can raise concerns with the coroner's office and, where necessary, challenge decisions".
From BBC
"The management stands in unwavering solidarity with the families of the deceased as well as those injured," he wrote, adding that the nightclub's management would provide "assistance, support and cooperation to the bereaved".
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
