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Webster 1913 Edition


Rapacious

Ra-pa′cious

(rȧ-pā′shŭs)
,
Adj.
[L.
rapax
,
-acis
, from
rapere
to seize and carry off, to snatch away. See
Rapid
.]
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.
[L. rapax, from rapio, to seize. See Rap.]
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)

  1. Voracious; avaricious.
  2. 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.
  3. (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 [...]

Usage notes

  • The use of this term for animals other than birds is dated.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:greedy

Related terms

Translations