reive

[reev]

verb (used with or without object), reived, reiv·ing. Chiefly Scot.

to rob; plunder.

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 of reivers

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.
Border Raids and Reivers
Robert Borland
This, of course, was not true of all the reivers on the Borders.
Border Raids and Reivers
Robert Borland

British Dictionary definitions for reivers

reive

verb

(intr) Scot and Northern English dialect to go on a plundering raid

Derived Formsreiver, noun

Word Origin for reive

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