Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Rapacious
Ra-pa′cious
(rȧ-pā′shŭs)
, Adj.
1.
Given to plunder; disposed or accustomed to seize by violence; seizing by force.
“ The downfall of the rapacious and licentious Knights Templar.” Motley.
2.
Accustomed to seize food; subsisting on prey, or animals seized by violence;
as, a tiger is a
rapacious
animal; a rapacious
bird.3.
Avaricious; grasping; extortionate; also, greedy; ravenous; voracious;
as,
rapacious
usurers; a rapacious
appetite.[Thy Lord] redeem thee quite from Death’s
rapacious
claim Milton.
Syn. – Greedy; grasping; ravenous; voracious.
– Ra-pa′cious-ly
, adv.
Ra-pa′cious-ness
, Noun.
Webster 1828 Edition
Rapacious
RAPA'CIOUS
,Adj.
1.
Given to plunder; disposed or accustomed to seize by violence; seizing by force; as a rapacious enemy.Well may thy lord, appeas'd redeem thee quite from death's rapacious claim.
2.
Accustomed to seize for food; subsisting on prey or animals seized by violence; as a rapacious tiger; a rapacious fowl.Definition 2024
rapacious
rapacious
English
Adjective
rapacious (comparative more rapacious, superlative most rapacious)
- Voracious; avaricious.
- 1787, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 6: Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States:
- To presume a want of motives for such contests [of power between states] as an argument against their existence, would be to forget that men are ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious.
- 1787, Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 6: Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States:
- Given to taking by force or plundering; aggressively greedy.
- 1910, Niccolò Machiavelli (translated by Ninian Hill Thomson), The Prince, Chapter XIX:
- A Prince [...] sooner becomes hated by being rapacious and by interfering with the property and with the women of his subjects, than in any other way.
- 1910, Niccolò Machiavelli (translated by Ninian Hill Thomson), The Prince, Chapter XIX:
- (of an animal, usually a bird) Subsisting off live prey.
- 1827, James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie, Chapter XIII:
- Even the rapacious birds appeared to comprehend the nature of the ceremony, for [...] they once more began to make their airy circuits above the place [...]
- 1827, James Fenimore Cooper, The Prairie, Chapter XIII:
Usage notes
- The use of this term for animals other than birds is dated.
Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:greedy
Related terms
Translations
avaricious
given to take by force
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