- Reft
- Reave Reave (r[=e]v), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Reaved} (r[=e]vd),
{Reft} (r[e^]ft), or {Raft} (r[.a]ft) (obs.); p. pr. & vb. n.
{Reaving}.] [AS. re['a]fian, from re['a]f spoil, plunder,
clothing, re['o]fan to break (cf. bire['o]fan to deprive of);
akin to G. rauben to rob, Icel. raufa to rob, rj[=u]fa to
break, violate, Goth. bir['a]ub[=o]n to despoil, L. rumpere
to break; cf. Skr. lup to break. [root]114. Cf. {Bereave},
{Rob}, v. t., {Robe}, {Rove}, v. i., {Rupture}.]
To take away by violence or by stealth; to snatch away; to
rob; to despoil; to bereave. [Archaic]. ``To reave his
life.'' --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
He golden apples raft of the dragon. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
If the wooers reave By privy stratagem my life at home. --Chapman. [1913 Webster]
To reave the orphan of his patrimony. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
The heathen caught and reft him of his tongue. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
