Raven definition

rāvən
ravens
See word origin
Frequency:
Black and lustrous.
adjective
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To devour greedily.
verb
3
1
The definition of raven is something that is shiny and black.

An example of something raven is black hair.

adjective
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To consume greedily; devour.
verb
3
2
Raven is defined as a large black bird with a straight and sharp beak.

A large crow is an example of a raven.

noun
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(obs.) To seize forcibly.
verb
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To prowl hungrily; search for prey or plunder.
verb
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To devour food or prey greedily.
verb
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To have a voracious appetite.
verb
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noun
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A common name for several, generally large and lustrous black species of birds in the genus Corvus, especially the common raven, Corvus corax.
noun
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Of the color of the raven; jet-black.

Raven curls.

Raven darkness.

She was a tall, sophisticated, raven-haired beauty.

adjective
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noun
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Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.
noun
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(archaic) To obtain or seize by violence.
verb
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To devour with great eagerness.
verb
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To prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity.

The raven is both a scavenger, who ravens a dead animal almost like a vulture, and a bird of prey, who commonly ravens to catch a rodent.

verb
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anagrams
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A female given name for a girl with raven hair, used since the 1970s.
pronoun
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A large bird (Corvus corax) of the Northern Hemisphere, having black plumage and a croaking cry.
noun
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1
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Any of several similar birds of the genus Corvus, found in Africa, Australia, and southwestern North America.
noun
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1
Black and shiny.

Raven tresses.

adjective
0
1
To seek or seize as prey or plunder.
verb
0
1
To seek or seize prey or plunder.
verb
0
1
To eat ravenously.
verb
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1
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Any of various large crows; esp., the largest crow (Corvus corax), with a straight, sharp beak, found in Europe, Asia, and North America.
noun
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1

Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
raven
Plural:
ravens

Origin of raven

  • From Middle English ravin, raven rapine, plunder, prey ravin

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English from Old English hræfn

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Old English hræfn, from Proto-Germanic *hrabnaz (compare Dutch raaf, German Rabe, Danish ravn), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorhâ‚‚- (compare Middle Irish crú, Latin corvus, Lithuanian šárka (“magpie"), Serbo-Croatian svrȁka "˜id.', Ancient Greek κόραξ (kórax)), from *ḱer, *ḱor (compare Latin crepare "˜to creak, crack', Sanskrit kṛ́patÄ“).

    From Wiktionary

  • From Old French raviner (“rush, seize by force"), itself from ravine (“rapine"), from Latin rapina (“plundering, loot"), itself from rapere (“seize, plunder, abduct")

    From Wiktionary

Raven Sentence Examples

  • Thunder tumbled down the San Juan Mountains, heralding the arrival of pelting rain that turned the Jeep road into a surging stream and the sky to an ominous shade of raven black.

  • The woman cocked her head, looking for all the world like a raven.

  • The typical bas relief, which is found in great abundance in the museums of Europe, invariably represents Mithras, under the form of a youth with conical cap and flying drapery, slaying the sacred bull, the scorpion attacking the genitals of the animal, the serpent drinking its blood, the dog springing towards the wound in its side, and frequently, in addition, the Sun-god, his messenger the raven, a fig-tree, a lion, a ewer, and torch-bearers.

  • Many of the Celtic goddesses are linked with the raven or crow.

  • The raven frequently remains even in the colder parts throughout the winter; these, with the Canada jay, waxwing, grosbeak and snow bunting, being the principal birds seen in Manitoba and northern districts in that season.

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Words near raven in the Dictionary