Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To seize and carry away by force.
- v. To rape; violate.
- v. To overwhelm with emotion; enrapture. See Synonyms at enrapture.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To seize and carry off; transport or take away forcibly; snatch away.
- To transport mentally; enrapture; bring into a state of ecstasy, as of delight or fear.
- To deprive by seizure; dispossess violently: with of.
- To violate the chastity of; commit rape upon; deflower.
- n. Ravishment; ecstasy; a transport or rapture.
Wiktionary
- v. To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.
- v. { To transport with joy or delight; to delight to ecstasy.
- v. To rape.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.
- v. To transport with joy or delight; to delight to ecstasy.
- v. To have carnal knowledge of (a woman) by force, and against her consent; to rape.
WordNet 3.0
- v. force (someone) to have sex against their will
- v. hold spellbound
Etymologies
- Middle English ravisshen, from Old French ravir, raviss-, from Vulgar Latin *rapīre, from Latin rapere, to seize; see rep- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Encapsulated in the root of the word "ravish" is an etymological range of emotional approximations from rapacious to rape, from rapt to rapture--and a word with that sort of seed and yield reveals how intrinsically complex Donne saw his relationship to God.”
Great Regulars: Consider, for instance, the word [John] Donne
“Despite the name (which, salads apart, spell-check always wants to change to "ravish"), it is a good site: quiet, unfussy, well organised and functional (though as so new, many functions are still under development).”
“The comparison is grounded on the double meaning of the word "ravish" for it signifies the act of rape as well as the act of violently seizing and carrying away someone or something.”
The State of Things: Olaudah Equiano and the Volatile Politics of Heterocosmic Desire
“Did you know the original meaning of "ravish" is rape too?”
“xbrl, there's a fine line between 'ravish' fantasies and 'rape' fantasies.”
“That's my kind of wine note, though my thought was—leave the table upright and ravish someone on top of it.”
The Wall Street Journal: The 1996 Champagnes: Great, but Just How Great?
“The function of Chivaric politeness and gallantry in todays world reassures women that the gallant chivalrous male is likely not going to beat or ravish them.”
Tom McIntyre Explains His Picks for our 2009 Hunting and Fishing Heroes and Villians Face-Off
“Your hours will pass in dread and misery, and soon the bolt will fall which must ravish from you your happiness for ever.”
“And then they both ravish each other in the woods, right?”
“For a moment, Lena considered sucking up her feelings and letting Jason ravish her in hopes that he could lift her libido to meet his.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ravish’.
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fight
words for fighting
bout, fight, match, smackdown, blue, stoush, battle, clash, fuss, fray, ruckus, tussle and 91 more...
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Words that end in "-ish" but aren't adjectives
embellish, flourish, garnish, rubbish, nourish, admonish, punish, finish, blemish, abolish, accomplish, parish and 41 more...
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Something Vishy
peevish, ravish, vitiate, vishnu, lavish, dovish, dervish, slavish, knavish, vicious
johnmperry "Her looks were ravishing, but when it came to ravishing, looks weren't enough."
- my best friend used to say that, I wonder where he got it from!
Maybe I'll just say
- Louis Zukofsky and leave it at that. He seems to have supplied quite a lot of shite here. Jun 20, 2008
asativum Nor peevish. Jun 18, 2008
Prolagus Not to be confused with radish. Jun 18, 2008