raven

noun

1. (countable)Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).

   “Some ſay that Rauens foſter forlorne children, / The vvhilſt their ovvne birds famiſh in their neſts: / Oh be to me though thy hard hart ſay no, / Nothing ſo kinde but ſomething pittifull.”

   “Thus like the ſad preſaging Rauen that tolls / The ſick mans paſſeport in her hollovv beake, / And in the ſhadovv of the ſilent night / Doth ſhake contagion from her ſable vvings; / Vex'd and tormented runnes poore Barabas / VVith fatall curſes tovvards theſe Chriſtians.”

   “[T]he Danes bare in their Enſigne a Raven vvrought (by report) in needle-vvorke, by the daughters of Lothbroke that is, Leather-breech, […]”

   “Hee beareth Or, a Rauen Proper, by the name of Corbet.”

   “As from an ancestral oak / Two empty ravens sound their clarion, / Yell by yell, and croak by croak, / When they scent the noonday smoke / Of fresh human carrion: […]”

2. (uncountable)Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).

   “Near-synonyms: ebony, onyx”

   “A lone man walks the shores of Nantucket; his noble form is slightly bent, and with the raven of his hair is blended the faintest tinge of gray, though he is evidently a man to whom the meridian of life is yet far in the distance; […]”

3. (archaic, countable)Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).

   “VVhen the great ſea-raven, as Jacobſon informs us, comes to take avvay their young, the puffins boldly oppoſe him. […] As ſoon as the raven approaches, the puffin catches him under the throat vvith its beak, and ſticks its clavvs into his breaſt, vvhich makes the raven, vvith a loud ſcreaming, attempt to get avvay; […]”

   “Along the wild mountains night-ravens were yelling— / They bodingly presaged destruction and woe.”

4. (countable, historical)Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
5. (historical, metonymically, uncountable)Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).

   “Behold the vvarrior bright vvith Daniſh ſpoils!— / The raven droops his vvings—and hark! the trumpet, / Exulting, ſpeaks the reſt.”

6. (countable)Any of several, generally large, species of birds in the genus Corvus with lustrous black plumage; especially the common raven (Corvus corax).
7. (countable, figuratively, obsolete)A person who brings bad news or makes pessimistic predictions.

   “Ric[hard]. Novv y'ave ſpoke it halfe; 'tis ſinking I muſt treate of; / Your ſhips are all ſunke. / […] / M[istress] Foſt[er]. O thou fatall Raven; Let me pull thine eyes out for this / Sad croake.”

   “Mal[icorn]. O my dear Lord, upon this onely day / Depends the ſeries of your follovving Fate: / Think your good Genius has aſſum'd my ſhape / In this Prophetick doom. / Guiſe. Peace croaking Raven, / I'le ſeize him firſt, then make him a led Monarch; […]”

   “Some ravens have alvvays indeed croaked out this kind of ſong. They have a malignant delight in preſaging miſchief vvhen they are not employed in doing it: they are miſerable and diſapointed at every inſtance of the public proſperity.”

8. (alt-of, alternative, uncountable)Alternative spelling of ravin.

adj

1. (not-comparable)Of the jet-black and often glossy colour of the plumage of a raven (etymology 1, noun sense 1).

   “Near-synonyms: ebony, onyx”

   “raven curls    raven darkness”

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

   “Hovv ſvveetly did they float upon the vvings / Of Silence, through the emptie-vaulted night / At every fall ſmoothing the Raven dovvne / Of darkneſſe till ſhe ſmil'd: […]”

   “Thus o'er the proſtrate city black Deſpair / Extends her raven vving; […]”

2. (alt-of, alternative, obsolete)Alternative spelling of ravin.

verb

1. (archaic, transitive)Alternative spelling of ravin.
2. (archaic, transitive)Alternative spelling of ravin.

   “Her princes in the middes thereof are like vvolues, rauening yͤ pray [prey] to ſhed blood, and to ſhed blood, and to deſtroye ſoules for their ovvne couetous lucre.”

   “[C]ertaine young men vvhom they call Giamoglans, vvith others that ſtood round about them, ſnatcht it [the food] haſtily vp as their fees, and like greedie Harpies rauened it dovvne in a moment.”

   “In the morning giue them [horses] barley or prouender, a little at a time in diſtinct or ſeueral portions, tvvice or thrice one after another, ſo as he may chevv and eke diſgeſt it thoroughly, othervviſe if he rauen it, as he vvil do hauing much at a time, he rendreth it in his dung vvhole and not diſgeſted.”

   “A Lion nevv returnde from rauening pray [prey], / came to the fount, his blood to vvaſh avvay.”

   “[A]t this present I am in a very urgent necessity to feed, […] if you will but set me to work, it will be as good as a balsamum for sore eyes to see me gulch and raven it, for Gods sake, give order for it.”

3. (figuratively, transitive)Alternative spelling of ravin.

   “[S]he fenced them in their need / With iron-handed Duty's sternest creed, / 'Gainst Self's lean wolf that ravens word and deed.”

   “But some characters in books are very real—Jane Austen's are; and I know those five Bennets at the opening of Pride and Prejudice, simply waiting to raven the young men at Netherfield Park, are not giving one thought to the real facts of marriage.”

4. (intransitive)Alternative spelling of ravin.

   “[T]he ſouldiours not yet ſatisfied with ſpoiling and ſacking the reſt that they found in the ſaid Tailleret, raging about the confines thereof, rauened and made hauocke on euery ſide, of whatſoeuer they could lay hands on, taking priſoners both men and women, which were loden with carriage.”

   “[T]he Inhabitants of the Countrey, a barbarous and inhumane people (as generally Sea-borderers are) and inur'd to the ſpoil of VVracks, vvere not over haſty to acquaint the Duke's Officers vvith this, that they might not be diſturbed vvhilst buſie ravening after Booty.”

   “A scandal to be seen, how his Croats and loose hordes went openly ravening about, bent on mere housebreaking, street-robbery and insolent violence.”

5. (intransitive)Alternative spelling of ravin.

   “The couaitous deſyre of riche men is euer vnſaciable. It always raueneth and neuer is ſatisfied.”

   “For he [Daphnis] had doubled the number [of goats] he had received of Lamo, nor had the Wolf raven'd away so much as one, and they were all more twaddling fat then the very sheep.”

   “[T]he outdoor dogs […] were permitted to raven unchecked upon chicken bones, fat slices of ham, and luscious leavings of cream when the packing-up time came.”

   “And the hound Time, when all the Worlds and cities are swept away whereon he used to raven, having no more to devour, shall suddenly die.”

   “I refer to the danger of keeping a dog of this nature and disposition in a bedroom, where it can spring out ravening on anyone who enters.”

6. (intransitive)Alternative spelling of ravin.

   “[T]he Arms and Hands of the Bear, […] are his ſtrength and inſtrument of action to raven and prey vvith; […]”

7. (intransitive)Alternative spelling of ravin.

   “[B]ecause hogs are commonly rauening for their meat, more then other cattel, it is meet therefore to haue them ringed, or elſe they will doe much hurt in digging and turning vp corne fieldes, […]”

   “They passed along towards the great hall-door, where the winds howled and ravened for their prey; […]”

   “The Greek were-wolf is closely related to the vampire. The lycanthropist falls into a cataleptic trance, during which his soul leaves his body, enters that of a wolf and ravens for blood.”

8. (intransitive)Alternative spelling of ravin.

   “For hovv […] ſhall I knovv thee to be a man, vvhen thou kickeſt like an aſſe, neygheſt like an Horſe after vvomen, raueſt in luſt like a Bull, raueneſt like a Beare, ſtingeſt like a Scorpion, rakeſt like a VVolfe, as ſuttle as a Foxe, as impudent as a Dogge; ſhall I ſay thou art man that haſt all the Symptomes of a beaſt?”

9. (figuratively, intransitive)Alternative spelling of ravin.
10. (figuratively, intransitive)Alternative spelling of ravin.

    “Here's my brother thirsting, ravening to make your acquaintance—and by George! you are in luck's way, young hopeful, to make his.”

    “Take your conscience—what is the choice? On one side the great temple where you can gather the good harvest—on the other a dirty little scandal that you’ve nosed out to fling to paper scavengers who feed it to their readin' millions ravening for pornographic dirt.”

name

1. A surname.

   “William King, Daniel Giles, and Samuel Raven, the other defendants in the bill named, who were described as the trustees nominated by the parties, of the fifth part.”

   “Mr. F. Haydon said he was an undertaker at Stockwell. He conducted the funeral of W. Raven, the registry of whose death was proved by Mr. Booth”

   “Several senior railway engineers reached the IMechE pinnacle of being appointed president: Sir Vincent Raven (1912), [...].”

2. A female given name from English for a girl with raven hair, used since the 1970s.

   “I want you to do a background check on a woman named Raven Anderson. Waist-length black hair, violet eyes, tall, striking. Late twenties, I'd say.”

   “Raven-Symoné and Anneliese van der Pol will reprise their roles as best friends Raven Baxter and Chelsea Daniels.”

3. A male given name.

   “Raven Allen — Originally from the Zone, he becomes a member of the Psi:Ko when he is kidnapped with his brothers by trackers.”

4. A place name:
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6. A place name:
7. A place name:
8. A place name:
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10. A place name:
11. Synonym of Corvus (“a constellation of the southern sky south of the constellation Virgo, said to resemble a crow”).