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reive

[reev]
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verb (used with or without object), reived, reiv·ing. Chiefly Scot.
  1. to rob; plunder.
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Origin of reive

First recorded in 1860–65; variant of reave1
Related formsreiv·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for reivers

Historical Examples

  • They were the greatest of reivers on both sides of the Border.

    Highways and Byways in The Border

    Andrew Lang

  • The reivers burst through the lines, and changed the fate of Hawksglen.

    The Mosstrooper

    Robert Scott Fittis

  • Then came the reivers of Kernsberg and burned the castle to the ground.

    Joan of the Sword Hand

    S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett

  • In no circumstances were the Border reivers easily intimidated.

  • This, of course, was not true of all the reivers on the Borders.

British Dictionary definitions for reivers

reive

verb
  1. (intr) Scot and Northern English dialect to go on a plundering raid
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Derived Formsreiver, noun

Word Origin

variant of reave 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012