ravage

Ravage is both a verb and a noun. As a verb, it means to cause severe and widespread damage or destruction, to lay waste, or to plunder. As a noun, ravage refers to the damage or devastation itself, and the term is often used in the phrase the ravages of something, such as the ravages of war or the ravages of time.

In practical use, ravage describes effects from natural events, human conflict, disease, or ecological disturbances. A hurricane can ravage a coastline, a pest outbreak can ravage a crop, and war can ravage a city. The word is also used metaphorically in literature and rhetoric to emphasize scale or severity of harm.

Origin and form: The word derives from French ravager, meaning to lay waste, and entered English in the Early Modern period. Related forms include ravaging (present participle) and ravager (one that ravages).