different between ravage vs tease

English

Etymology

From French ravage (“ravage, havoc, spoil”), from ravir (“to bear away suddenly”), from Latin rapere (“to snatch, seize”), akin to Ancient Greek ?????? (harpáz?, “to seize”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??æv?d?/

Verb

ravage (third-person singular simple present ravages, present participle ravaging, simple past and past participle ravaged)

1. (transitive) To devastate or destroy something.
2. (transitive) To pillage or sack something, to lay waste to something.
3. (intransitive) To wreak destruction.

Related terms

• rapid

Translations

Noun

ravage (plural ravages)

1. Grievous damage or havoc.
2. Depredation or devastation

   the ravage of a lion; the ravages of fire or tempest; the ravages of an army, or of time

Translations

Further reading

• ravage in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ravage in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French ravage (“ravage, havoc, spoil”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ra??va?.??/
• Hyphenation: ra?va?ge
• Rhymes: -a???

Noun

ravage f (plural ravages)

1. havoc, damage

Anagrams

• gevaar

French

Etymology

From ravine (“rush of water”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a.va?/

Noun

ravage m (plural ravages)

1. singular of ravages
2. (archaic) The act of laying waste.

Verb

ravage

1. first-person singular present indicative of ravager
2. third-person singular present indicative of ravager
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of ravager
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of ravager
5. second-person singular imperative of ravager

Further reading

• “ravage” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• gavera

English

Alternative forms

• teaze (dated)

Etymology

From Middle English tesen, from Old English t?san (“to tease”), from Proto-West Germanic *taisijan (“to separate, tug, shred”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: t?z, IPA^(key): /ti?z/
• Homophones: teas, tees
• Rhymes: -i?z

Verb

tease (third-person singular simple present teases, present participle teasing, simple past and past participle teased)

1. To separate the fibres of a fibrous material.
2. To comb (originally with teasels) so that the fibres all lie in one direction.
3. To back-comb.
4. (transitive) To poke fun at, either cruelly or affectionately.
   • 2008, Lich King, "Attack of the Wrath of the War of the Death of the Strike of the Sword of the Blood of the Beast ", Toxic Zombie Onslaught

5. (transitive) To provoke or disturb; to annoy.
   • 1684, Samuel Butler, Hudibras

     Not by the force of carnal reason, / But indefatigable teasing.

   • "My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects; […]."

6. (transitive) To manipulate or influence the behavior of, especially by repeated acts of irritation.
7. (transitive) To entice, tempt.
8. (transitive, informal) To show as forthcoming, in the manner of a teaser.

Usage notes

• Tease, in the sense of "make fun of," can refer to cruel statements but also affectionate or harmless ones, which may be taken in good humour by the recipient. By contrast, taunt only refers to cruel statements, as does mock unless qualified (e.g. gently mock).

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

tease (plural teases)

1. One who teases.
2. A single act of teasing.
3. One who deliberately arouses others (usually men) sexually with no intention of satisfying that arousal.

   Synonyms: cock tease, cocktease, cockteaser, prickteaser

Translations

Anagrams

• Seeta, setae, setæ