Reave \Reave\ (r[=e]v), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reaved (r[=e]vd),
   Reft (r[e^]ft), or Raft (r[.a]ft) (obs.); p. pr. & vb. n.
   Reaving.] [AS. re['a]fian, from re['a]f spoil, plunder,
   clothing, re['o]fan to break (cf. bire['o]fan to deprive of);
   akin to G. rauben to rob, Icel. raufa to rob, rj[=u]fa to
   break, violate, Goth. bir['a]ub[=o]n to despoil, L. rumpere
   to break; cf. Skr. lup to break. [root]114. Cf. Bereave,
   Rob, v. t., Robe, Rove, v. i., Rupture.]
   To take away by violence or by stealth; to snatch away; to
   rob; to despoil; to bereave. [Archaic]. "To reave his life."
   --Spenser.
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         He golden apples raft of the dragon.     --Chaucer.
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         If the wooers reave
         By privy stratagem my life at home.      --Chapman.
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         To reave the orphan of his patrimony.    --Shak.
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         The heathen caught and reft him of his tongue.
                                                  --Tennyson.
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	Reft \Reft\ (r?ft), imp. & p. p. of Reave.
   Bereft.
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         Reft of thy sons, amid thy foes forlorn. --Heber.
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	Reft \Reft\, n.
   A chink; a rift. See Rift. --Rom. of R.
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	Rift \Rift\, n. [Written also reft.] [Dan. rift, fr. rieve to
   rend. See Rive.]
   1. An opening made by riving or splitting; a cleft; a
      fissure. --Spenser.
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   2. A shallow place in a stream; a ford.
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	reave
     v : steal goods; take as spoils; "During the earthquake people
         looted the stores that were deserted by their owners"
         [syn: plunder, despoil, loot, strip, rifle, ransack,
          pillage, foray]
     [also: reft]

	

	reft
     See reave