raven

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A large bird (Corvus corax) having black plumage and a croaking cry.
2. adj. Black and shiny: raven tresses.
3. v. To consume greedily; devour.
4. v. To seek or seize as prey or plunder.
5. v. To seek or seize prey or plunder.
6. v. To eat ravenously.
7. n. Variant of ravin.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A bird of the larger species of the genus Corvus, having the feathers of the throat lanceolate and distinct from one another. The plumage is entirely black, with more or less lustrous or metallic sheen; the bill and feet are ebony-black; the wings are pointed, the tail is rounded, and the nostrils are concealed beneath large tufts of antrorse plumules. The voice is raucous. The common raven is C. corax, about 2 feet long and 50 inches in extent of wings. It inhabits Europe, Asia, and some other regions, and the American bird, though distinguished as C. carnivorus, is scarcely different. There are several similar though distinct species of various countries, among them C. cryptoleucus of western North America, which has the concealed bases of the feathers of the neck snowy-white. Ravens are easily tamed, and make very intelligent pets, but are thievish and troublesome. They may be taught to imitate speech to some extent. In the wild state the raven is omnivorous, like the crow; it nests on trees, rocks, and cliffs, preferring the most inaccessible places, and lays four or five greenish eggs heavily speckled with brown and blackish shades. The American raven is now almost unknown in the eastern parts of the United States, but is still abundant iu the west. Ravens have from time immemorial been viewed with superstitious dread, being supposed to bring bad luck and forebode death.
2. n. A kind of fish. See sea-raven and Hemitripteridæ.
3. Black as a raven; evenly and glossily or lustrously black: as, raven locks.
4. n. Plunder; rapine; robbery; rapacity; furious violence.
5. n. Plunder; prey; food obtained with rapacity.
6. To seize with rapacity, especially food; prey upon; ravage. See ravined.
7. To subject to rapine or ravage; obtain or take possession of by violence.
8. To devour with great eagerness; eat with voracity; swallow greedily.
9. To prey with rapacity; show rapacity.
10. n. Applied in Australia to one of the larger crows, Corvus coronoides.

Wiktionary

1. n. A common name for several, generally large and lustrous black species of birds in the genus Corvus, especially the common raven, Corvus corax.
2. adj. Of the color of the raven; jet-black
3. n. Rapine; rapacity.
4. n. Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.
5. v. archaic To obtain or seize by violence.
6. v. To devour with great eagerness.
7. v. To prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) A large black passerine bird (Corvus corax), similar to the crow, but larger, and has a harsh, loud call. It is native of the northern parts of Europe, Asia and America, and is noted for its sagacity.
2. adj. Of the color of the raven; jet black
3. n. Rapine; rapacity.
4. n. Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.
5. v. To obtain or seize by violence.
6. v. To devour with great eagerness.
7. v. To prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. prey on or hunt for
2. v. feed greedily
3. v. eat greedily
4. v. obtain or seize by violence
5. n. large black bird with a straight bill and long wedge-shaped tail