Jan 9, 2015 · ravage, devastate, waste, sack, pillage, despoil mean to lay waste by plundering or destroying. ravage implies violent often cumulative depredation and destruction.

RAVAGE definition: to work havoc upon; damage or mar by ruinous or destructive action. See examples of ravage used in a sentence.

RAVAGE meaning: 1. to cause great damage to something: 2. to cause great damage to something: 3. to cause great…. Learn more.

SYNONYMY NOTE: ravage implies violent destruction, usually in a series of depredations or over an extended period of time, as by an army or a plague; devastate stresses the total ruin and …

Definition of ravage verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

To wreak destruction. n. 1. The act or practice of pillaging or destroying: the marauders' ravage of the village. 2. a. Destruction, damage, or harm: The storm resulted in the ravage of the …

Ravage, devastate, lay waste all refer, in their literal application, to the wholesale destruction of a countryside by an invading army (or something comparable).

Dec 12, 2025 · Verb ravage (third-person singular simple present ravages, present participle ravaging, simple past and past participle ravaged) (transitive) To devastate, destroy or lay …

The word ravage can be used as a noun or a verb meaning destruction or to destroy. In a war, bombs and the attacking army will ravage the country under siege.

There are five meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun ravage, two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.