Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Ravish

Rav′ish (răv′ĭsh), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ravished (-ĭsht); p. pr. & vb. n. Ravishing.] [OE. ravissen, F. ravir, fr. L. rapere to snatch or tear away, to ravish. See Rapacious, Rapid, and -ish.] 1. To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.

These hairs which thou dost ravish from my chin Will quicken, and accuse thee. Shak.

This hand shall ravish thy pretended right. Dryden.

2. To transport with joy or delight; to delight to ecstasy. "Ravished . . . for the joy." Chaucer.

Thou hast ravished my heart. Cant. iv. 9.

3. To have carnal knowledge of (a woman) by force, and against her consent; to rape. Shak.

Syn. — To transport; entrance; enrapture; delight; violate; deflour; force.

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.