Reave

From Fresh Dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Verb 1.2.2 Alternate spelling 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Verb

English

Pronunciation

IPA: /ri:v/

Etymology 1

Old English rēafian.

Verb

Infinitive to reave

Third person singular reaves

Simple past reaved or reft

Past participle reaved or reft

Present participle reaving

1. To plunder, pillage, rob.

   • 1985: Few of the chroniclers of Nero’s reign have been accurate when relating the situation that obtained between the Emperor and his mother from the time when, reft of her German and Pannonian guards, she lived in a more or less solitary rage on one estate or another. — Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked

Alternate spelling

• reive

Etymology 2

Alteration of rive by confusion with the above.

Verb

Infinitive to reave

Third person singular reaves

Simple past reft

Past participle reft

Present participle reaving

1. To split, tear, break apart.