- Rapaciousness
- Rapacious Ra*pa"cious (r[.a]*p[=a]"sh[u^]s), a. [L. rapax,
-acis, from rapere to seize and carry off, to snatch away.
See {Rapid}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Given to plunder; disposed or accustomed to seize by
violence; seizing by force. `` The downfall of the
rapacious and licentious Knights Templar.'' --Motley.
[1913 Webster]
2. Accustomed to seize food; subsisting on prey, or animals seized by violence; as, a tiger is a rapacious animal; a rapacious bird. [1913 Webster]
3. Avaricious; grasping; extortionate; also, greedy; ravenous; voracious; as, rapacious usurers; a rapacious appetite. [1913 Webster]
[Thy Lord] redeem thee quite from Death's rapacious claim --Milton. [1913 Webster]
Syn: Greedy; grasping; ravenous; voracious. [1913 Webster] -- {Ra*pa"cious*ly}, adv. -- {Ra*pa"cious*ness}, n. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.