[OT] What the hell does "reaver" mean ?

[Umbran]

It wasn't slumbering. It was waiting to pounce.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

May I ask how and where you did your search?

Sure.

All searches were performed on Google. First was "reaver". Second was "define: reaver".

In both cases I got general references to sci-fi titles, plenty of links to Firefly , and a link to a How-To for breaking a router password with Reaver Utilities.

For the first search Wikipedia was the top result. But I skipped it because I was looking for a word definition.

For the second search I did not get a Google definition. It's my assumption that google definitions for words are sourced from Wiktionary, so I didn't perform a search on that website. I did get a dictionary.com link (which I avoid because the adds freeze this old laptop, and the entries tend to be pretty short).

I was signed in to my Google account at the time. Not sure if that skewed my search results.

I'm not asking to lecture you or gloat. I'm genuinely concerned - it seems the free and easy availability of Wiki resources aren't as common knowledge as they ought to be.

Oh I'm aware of Wikipedia and Wiktionary. The later has not always produced results--or useful definitions--for me in the past.

I'd have tried my dictionaries after a quick online search, but they are all in storage.

 

[SkidAce]

its subtle, but i get better results searching "definition word" than define etc...

 

[Shasarak]

Yes, but then baby food is not made from real babies.

Luckily, that is not the case with baby oil!

 

[ShadowBlackHeart]

Acording to urban dictionary it means "
Soul-Reaver
1.) A creature devoid of morality, common sense, and intelligence.
2.) The representation of everything wrong with the universe.
Soul-Reaver, you're being Soul-Reaver again. F*&^%NG STOP IT!"

 

[ShadowBlackHeart]

Acording to urban dictionary it means "
Soul-Reaver
1.) A creature devoid of morality, common sense, and intelligence.
2.) The representation of everything wrong with the universe.
Soul-Reaver, you're being Soul-Reaver again. F*&^%NG STOP IT!"

sorry 4 the double post dident think first went through as i had no account at the time of trying to reply my bad

 

[Bohandas]

Yeah, what's up with this word ? There's the console game "Soul Reaver", there's a "Reaver" prestige class in Seas of Blood, there's a "Slime Reaver" bullywug-like monster in Creature Collection 2...

According to all the English dictionaries I've consulted, be they for translation or for definition, be they paper or found on the Internet, there's no words between "reassuringly" and "reawaken". When I've asked an English teacher (who's a native englishwoman from the UK); she said she never saw that word and asked me if I didn't confused it with "reefer" ...

What does this silly word mean ?

According to wiktionary it's a fancy old-timey word for "thief", "plunderer", or "pirate"

 

[MNblockhead]

The below definition is from the Oxford English Dictionary, UK version.

CITE: reave. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Log in to your Oxford Dictionaries account (accessed November 11, 2020).


I didn't discern any difference in the definitions in the US version, so I'm just including the UK version as they seem to be same.

Definition of reave in English:​

reave​

Pronunciation: /riːv/

VERB (past and past participle reft / /rɛft//)​

[NO OBJECT] archaic
1Carry out raids in order to plunder:the strong could reave and steal

• To slink thro' slaps, an' reave an' steal, At stacks o' pease, or stocks o' kail!
• As their gods were, so their laws were; Thor the strong could reave and steal.

1.1[WITH OBJECT]Rob (a person or place) of something by force:reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast

• In silencing my power, I am reft of half my being!

1.2[WITH OBJECT]Steal (something).

• Were you planning to escort me to my chambers, or have all your chivalrous faculties been reft from you?
• Helen, symbolizing perfect beauty as produced by Greek art, is recalled from Hades and ardently pursued by Faust, but finally reft from him.
• ‘What thou lov'st well shall not be reft from thee,’ said Pound.
• Go reave me some loots.

Derivatives​

reaver​

NOUN

• Not in our lands; these are claimed for one and one only, not reavers such as thee!
• What shall a young reaver do but spend his coins like the snake sips water?
• The great-handed reaver felt a hot scar tear across his cheeks and the bitter salt-welling of blood whet his lips and nostrils.
• As a mercenary and reaver he should not have any qualms as the gold trickled into his pockets, the gold of blood-letting.

Origin​

Old Englishrēafian, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch roven, German rauben, also to rob. See also reive.

Words that rhyme with reave​

achieve, believe, breve, cleave, conceive, deceive, eve, greave, grieve, heave, interleave, interweave, khedive, leave, misconceive, naive, Neve, peeve, perceive, receive, reive, relieve, reprieve, retrieve, sheave, sleeve, steeve, Steve, Tananarive, Tel Aviv, thieve, underachieve, upheave, weave, we've, Yves

For editors and proofreaders​

Line breaks: reave

 

[Dioltach]

See also "Border Reivers". (George MacDonald Fraser wrote several books about them.)

 

[nevin]

The term Riever was applied to the Border Scotts clans. They reaved thier neighbors on both sides. Killed stole thier livestock. They werent much different than vikings, or saxons. They just rolled in and took what they wanted and killied anyone who tried to stop them.

Historically Rievers or Reavers were large organized armed bands who pillaged, raped and stole whatever they wanted.