Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Rave

Rave (rāv), obs. imp. of Rive.

Rave, n. [Prov. E. raves, or rathes, a frame laid on a wagon, for carrying hay, etc.] One of the upper side pieces of the frame of a wagon body or a sleigh.

Rave (rāv), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Raved (rāvd); p. pr. & vb. n. Raving.] [F. rêver to rave, to be delirious, to dream; perhaps fr. L. rabere to rave, rage, be mad or furious. Cf. Rage, Reverie.] 1. To wander in mind or intellect; to be delirious; to talk or act irrationally; to be wild, furious, or raging, as a madman.

In our madness evermore we rave. Chaucer.

Have I not cause to rave and beat my breast? Addison.

The mingled torrent of redcoats and tartans went raving down the valley to the gorge of Killiecrankie. Macaulay.

2. To rush wildly or furiously. Spenser.

3. To talk with unreasonable enthusiasm or excessive passion or excitement; — followed by about, of, or on; as, he raved about her beauty.

The hallowed scene Which others rave of, though they know it not. Byron.

Rave, v. t. To utter in madness or frenzy; to say wildly; as, to rave nonsense. Young.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.