| ravish | 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." "Thou hast ravished my heart." (Cant. Iv. 9) 3. To have carnal knowledge of (a woman) by force, and against her consent; to rape. Synonym: To transport, entrance, enrapture, delight, violate, deflour, force. Origin: OE. Ravissen, F. Ravir, fr. L. Rapere to snatch or tear away, to ravish. See Rapacious, Rapid, and -ish. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| ravishment | 1. The act of carrying away by force or against consent; abduction; as, the ravishment of children from their parents, or a ward from his guardian, or of a wife from her husband. 2. The state of being ravished; rapture; transport of delight; ecstasy. "In whose sight all things joy, with ravishment Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze." (Milton) 3. The act of ravishing a woman; rape. Origin: F. Ravissement. See Ravish. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |