RAVENOUS


Meaning of RAVENOUS in English

rav ‧ e ‧ nous /ˈræv ə nəs/ BrE AmE adjective

[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: ravineux , from Latin rapere ; ⇨ ↑ rape 1 ]

very hungry ⇨ starving :

I’m absolutely ravenous.

a ravenous appetite

—ravenously adverb :

I was ravenously hungry.

• • •

THESAURUS

■ wanting to eat

▪ hungry wanting to eat something:

We were really hungry after our long walk.

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It’s hard work cooking for a bunch of hungry kids.

▪ peckish [not before noun] British English informal a little hungry:

I’m feeling a bit peckish. What’s in the fridge?

▪ starving/ravenous /ˈræv ə nəs/ ( also starved American English ) [not before noun] spoken very hungry and wanting to eat as soon as possible:

I missed lunch and I’m absolutely starving.

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Sam’s always ravenous when he gets home from school.

▪ famished very hungry. Famished is less common and sounds a little more formal than starving or ravenous :

Everyone was famished by the time they arrived.

▪ I could eat a horse! spoken used to say that you are very hungry:

‘Are you hungry?’ ‘Yeah, I could eat a horse.’

▪ appetite the desire for food that you have when you are hungry:

Exercise usually gives me an appetite.

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It’s healthy to have a good appetite.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.