I. ˈravij, -vēj noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, from Middle French, from ravir to ravish + -age — more at ravish
1. : an act or operation of ravaging : a violently destructive action or agency
complete a victory with ravage
secure from ravage by fire
2. : havoc or damage resulting from ravaging : violently destructive effect : ruin , devastation
repair the ravage wrought by war
the ravage of time
II. “, esp in pres part -vəj verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: French ravager, from Middle French, from ravage
transitive verb
: to lay waste to : subject to depredations : work havoc or devastation upon : plunder
intransitive verb
: to commit ravages
• rav·ag·er -jə(r) noun -s
Synonyms:
devastate , waste , sack , pillage , despoil , spoliate : ravage implies violent severe depredation, wasting, and destruction, often cumulative, so that restoration is impossible or unlikely
a forest area ravaged by fire
four major disasters had ravaged the country in the interval; the great smallpox epidemic, the great rinderpest outbreak, an intense drought with consequent famine and a devastating locust invasion — L.S.B.Leakey
the cities of the Main were ravaged, citizens were tortured, robbed, murdered, women were ravished, churches looted while the bells tolled horror — Marjory S. Douglas
devastate may stress the ruin and desolation ensuing from ravaging, demolishing, burning, and eradicating
devastating conflicts such as those which destroyed Greek, Roman, and Saracen civilization, which drenched Europe in blood — M.R.Cohen
the city was a devastated waste of smoldering embers: seventeen thousand four hundred and fifty people were homeless — American Guide Series: Massachusetts
if an atom or hydrogen bomb should be dropped on an American city, the devastated community would not be expected to confront the emergency unaided — Felix Morley
waste , often a close synonym for devastate , may on the other hand apply to situations in which damage and desolation are accomplished more slowly and less dramatically and definitively
with four legions, seized their cattle, wasted their country — J.A.Froude
his fingers wasted by illness — Winston Churchill
sack may apply to the acts of a victorious invader in stripping a captured area of everything of value; it may suggest large-scale or complete burglarizing and looting
the retreating Federals sacked and burned as they went, leaving scarcely a cabin in their wake — American Guide Series: Louisiana
after De Soto helped Pizarro sack Peru — American Guide Series: Florida
summer cottages sacked by the gang
pillage , often interchangeable with sack , may suggest somewhat less ruthless and general devastation and slightly more selectivity in plundering
their goods and chattels are pillaged, or filched for worthless money — Sir Winston Churchill
despoil usually applies to the ransacking, looting, or expropriation of valuables, often of a particular building or specific place
the same Roman raid that had despoiled his home and enslaved him at twenty had likewise brought disaster to their neighbors — L.C.Douglas
spoiliate is a legalistic synonym for despoil , often applicable to destruction visited on a neutral, noncombatant, or victim of piracy
from the ages, from the barbarians, the land had been burnt and spoliated — Richard Llewellyn