ravage
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
havoc; ruinous damage.
the ravages of war.
-
devastating or destructive action.
- Synonyms:
- desolation, waste, ruin
- Antonyms:
- creation
verb
noun
Related Words
Ravage, devastate, lay waste all refer, in their literal application, to the wholesale destruction of a countryside by an invading army (or something comparable). Lay waste has remained the closest to the original meaning of destruction of land: The invading army laid waste the towns along the coast. But ravage and devastate are used in reference to other types of violent destruction and may also have a purely figurative application. Ravage is often used of the results of epidemics: The Black Plague ravaged 14th-century Europe; and even of the effect of disease or suffering on the human countenance: a face ravaged by despair. Devastate, in addition to its concrete meaning ( vast areas devastated by bombs ), may be used figuratively: a devastating remark.
Other Word Forms
- ravagement noun
- ravager noun
Etymology
Origin of ravage
First recorded in 1605–15; from French, Middle French, equivalent to rav(ir) “to snatch away, ravish” + -age -age ( def. ); ravish
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.
The four of us sobbed as we entered the Palisades village, trying to make sense of the ravaged town.
From Los Angeles Times
During his opening remarks, Astin also acknowledged last year’s devastating wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles as well as the union’s upcoming negotiations with Hollywood studios.
From Los Angeles Times
But just two blocks up from my family’s house, the fire ravaged the town.
From Los Angeles Times
Today, Griffin and his wife, Kit Goldsmith, are living in Eagle Rock with their 11-month-old son, who was born a month ahead of schedule just two weeks after the Eaton fire ravaged Altadena.
From Los Angeles Times
Sudan reached the Cup of Nations knockout stage for just the second time since lifting the trophy in 1970 despite the country being ravaged by civil war for almost the last three years.
From Barron's
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.
