ravine
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ravine
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French: torrent, Old French: a violent rushing; see raven 2
Explanation
In a Western, outlaws will lie in wait at the top of a ravine, or narrow valley, until they see a traveler entering at the bottom. Then, the outlaws will come pounding down the ravine's steep sides. Ravines can be lonely and violent places averse to settlement as nothing can be built along their steep sides. The word ravine itself derives from the archaic rapin, which is a violent seizure of property. During times of heavy rains and snow melt, a ravine may be filled with violent, rushing water.
Vocabulary lists containing ravine
"The Ravine," Vocabulary from the short story
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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"The Ravine" by Graham Salisbury
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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.
It plunged into a ravine in the predawn hours Sunday along a mountain road.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026
“We left the wild running ravine in the back of the house and we built what I called the art deck,” she adds.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026
Picture a long, slow climb up the mountain of fame and wealth heading for a sign marked “Happiness”—only to discover, at the pinnacle, that happiness is actually on another mountaintop, across a ravine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025
An inquest concluded his death, from head injuries, was an accident after he lost his footing and fell in a ravine but the conspiracy theories continued online.
From BBC • Nov. 21, 2025
It was slow going and painful with her burned arm, but eventually she rose above the low lake of smoke that filled the ravine.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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.
