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.

Origin of ravage

1605–15; < French, Middle French, equivalent to rav(ir) to ravish + -age -age

SYNONYMS FOR ravage

ANTONYMS FOR ravage

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, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH ravage

ravage ravish ravenous ravaging ravishing (see synonym study at ravenous)

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, noun

Word Origin for ravage

C17: from French, from Old French ravir to snatch away, ravish