ravage
[ rav-ij ]
/ ˈræv ɪdʒ /
verb (used with object), rav·aged, rav·ag·ing.
to work havoc upon; damage or mar by ravages: a face ravaged by grief.
verb (used without object), rav·aged, rav·ag·ing.
to work havoc; do ruinous damage.
noun
havoc; ruinous damage: the ravages of war.
devastating or destructive action.
synonym study for ravage
1.
Ravage,
devastate,
lay waste all refer, in their literal application, to the wholesale destruction of a countryside by an invading army (or something comparable).
Lay waste has remained the closest to the original meaning of destruction of land:
The invading army laid waste the towns along the coast. But
ravage and
devastate are used in reference to other types of violent destruction and may also have a purely figurative application.
Ravage is often used of the results of epidemics:
The Black Plague ravaged 14th-century Europe; and even of the effect of disease or suffering on the human countenance:
a face ravaged by despair.
Devastate, in addition to its concrete meaning (
vast areas devastated by bombs ), may be used figuratively:
a devastating remark.
OTHER WORDS FROM ravage
rav·age·ment, noun rav·ag·er, noun un·rav·aged, adjectiveWords nearby ravage
raurkela,
rauschenberg,
rauschenbusch,
rauwolfia,
rav,
ravage,
ravana,
ravc,
rave,
rave hook,
rave-up
British Dictionary definitions for ravagement
ravage
/ (ˈrævɪdʒ) /
verb
to cause extensive damage to
noun
(often plural)
destructive action
the ravages of time
Derived forms of ravage
ravagement, noun ravager, nounWord Origin for ravage
C17: from French, from Old French
ravir to snatch away,
ravish