Category:Reave

Reave, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reaved, reft (, or raft ( (obs.); p. pr. & Vb. n. Reaving.] Etym: [as. reáfian, from reáf spoil, plunder, Clothing, reófan to break (cf. bireófan to deprive of); akin to g. Rauben to rob, icel. raufa to rob, rjufa to break, violate, goth. Biráubon to despoil, l. rumpere to break; cf. Skr. lup to break. sq. Root114. Cf. Bereave, rob, v. t., Robe, rove, v. t., Rupture.]

Defn: to take away by violence or by stealth; to snatch away; to rob; To despoil; to bereave. [archaic]. "to reave his life." Spenser. He golden apples raft of the dragon. Chaucer. By privy stratagem my life at home. Chapman. To reave the orphan of his patrimony. Shak. The heaven caught and reft him of his tongue. Tennyson.