reave
1[ reev ]
/ riv /
|
verb (used with object), reaved or reft, reav·ing. Archaic.
to take away by or as by force; plunder; rob.
Nearby words
- reassuring,
- reast,
- reata,
- reattach,
- reattribute,
- reaver,
- reawaken,
- reb,
- rebab,
- rebadge
Origin of reave
1before 900; Middle English reven, Old English rēafian; cognate with German rauben, Dutch roven to rob
reave
2[ reev ]
/ riv /
verb (used with or without object), reaved or reft, reav·ing.
Archaic. to rend; break; tear.
Origin of reave
2Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for reave
Not forty Van Hupfeldts nor a legion of ghosts should reave him of those telling pieces of evidence!
The Late Tenant|Louis TracyBut they try to reave from God, His part, who would be praised of men for good deeds.
The Form of Perfect Living and Other Prose Treatises|Richard Rolle of HampoleI am doing what I can to reave the heavens of these monsters.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 7 (of 12)|Robert G. Ingersoll
reave
1/ (riːv) /
verb reaves, reaving, reaved or reft (rɛft) archaic
to carry off (property, prisoners, etc) by force
Word Origin for reave
Old English reāfian; related to Old High German roubōn to rob, Old Norse raufa to break open
verb reaves, reaving, reaved or reft (rɛft)
archaic to break or tear (something) apart; cleave
Word Origin for reave
C13 reven, probably from reave 1 and influenced in meaning by rive
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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reave
Old English reafian "to rob (something from someone), plunder, pillage," from Proto-Germanic *raubjon (cf. Old Frisian ravia, Middle Dutch roven, Dutch rooven, Old High German roubon, German rauben), from PIE *reup- "to snatch" (see rip (v.)). Related: Reaved; reaving.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper