ravin

noun

1. (archaic, countable, literary, uncountable)Property obtained or seized by force or violence; booty, plunder, spoils.
2. (archaic, literary, uncountable)Of a (predatory) animal: seizing or devouring of food or prey; predation.
3. (archaic, figuratively, literary, uncountable)Gluttony, greed, rapacity; also, the quality of being predatory; predatoriness.
4. (archaic, countable, literary, obsolete, rare)A predatory animal; a predator.
5. (archaic, literary, obsolete, uncountable)Obtaining or seizing property by force or violence; pillage, plunder, robbery; (countable, chiefly in the plural) an instance of this.
6. (archaic, literary, obsolete, uncountable)That which a predatory animal seizes for food; prey; also (hunting) an animal which is hunted; quarry.

   “Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw / With ravine, shriek'd against his creed”

adj

1. (archaic, literary, obsolete)Ravenous.

   “Better 'twere / I met the ravin lion when he roared / With sharp constraint of hunger;”

verb

1. (archaic, literary, transitive)Sometimes followed by away or from: to obtain or seize (something, especially property) by force or violence; to plunder.

   “Hee changed his vvages tenne times, ſought to eat him vp, & to rauin all hee could get from him.”

2. (archaic, literary, transitive)Sometimes followed by down, up, or (obsolete) in: to eat (something, such as food or prey) greedily; to devour, to wolf down.

   “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. (archaic, figuratively, literary, transitive)To absorb or take in (something, such as information) greedily; also, to approach or pounce on (someone) like prey.

   “[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. (archaic, intransitive, literary)Followed by about, after, or for: to go after or seek for something, especially booty or spoils; to maraud, to plunder; also (generally), to move about wildly and cause damage; to rampage.

   “[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. (archaic, intransitive, literary)To eat greedily; also, followed by on or upon: of an animal: to prey on.

   “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.”

   “[I]t is his [Satan's] Maſtery to ſpread an unſeen venome in the Bovvels, thence to diffuſe its ſelf through't, mix vvith the vital ſpirit, and convert that kindly heat vvhich ſhould animate, into thoſe vvild irregular flames vvhich ravine and conſume.”

   “[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.”

6. (archaic, intransitive, literary)Sometimes followed by about or on: to move about searching for food or prey ravenously.

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

7. (archaic, intransitive, literary)Sometimes followed by after or for: to have a ravenous appetite or craving for food or prey.

   “[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. (archaic, intransitive, literary)Originally followed by with: to experience great hunger; to be ravenous.

   “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. (archaic, figuratively, intransitive, literary)To take and exploit or make use of greedily.
10. (archaic, figuratively, intransitive, literary)Sometimes followed by after or for: to have a strong craving or desire for, or to do, something; to crave, to desire, to yearn.

    “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.”