Any of several large, corvine birds having lustrous, black plumage and a loud, harsh call; especially, "Corvus corax", of the New and Old Worlds: He saw birds that had shiny black feathers and looked like crows, but they were bigger; in fact they really were ravens.

1. To seek plunder or to prey: The newspapers carried reports that the grasshoppers were ravening the countryside and destroying the crops.
2. To eat, to feed, or to devour voraciously or greedily: With his appetite, he ravened like an animal.
3. To seize as spoil or as prey: The invading enemy hordes attempted to raven the treasury of all the gold.