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.

Apocalyptic fires had been ravaging Los Angeles for more than 24 hours when Mayor Karen Bass stepped off a plane and into a now-viral encounter that may come to define her mayoralty.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2025

At that point, the polio virus had been ravaging the American landscape for years, and approximately 60,000 children were infected annually.

From Scientific American • Jan. 18, 2021

He had been ravaging, pursuing, defeating Roman troops, or being defeated by them. 

From Roman and the Teuton by Kingsley, Charles

A minute had changed his face, as if a year had been ravaging there: it was so furrowed, so haggard.

From The Truce of God A Tale of the Eleventh Century by Miles, George Henry

It contained a hundred adult male inhabitants, but only fifty had brought rubber to Ilola, the remainder having been engaged in hunting down a herd of elephants which had been ravaging their crops.

From Samba A Story of the Rubber Slaves of the Congo by Strang, Herbert