Definition of "ravish" [rav•ish]

• To seize and carry away by force. (verb-transitive)
• To rape; violate. (verb-transitive)
• To overwhelm with emotion; enrapture. See Synonyms at enrapture. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Encapsulated in the root of the word "ravish" is an etymological range of emotional approximations from rapacious to rape, from rapt to rapture--and a word with that sort of seed and yield reveals how intrinsically complex Donne saw his relationship to God."
• "Despite the name (which, salads apart, spell-check always wants to change to "ravish"), it is a good site: quiet, unfussy, well organised and functional (though as so new, many functions are still under development)."
• "The comparison is grounded on the double meaning of the word "ravish" for it signifies the act of rape as well as the act of violently seizing and carrying away someone or something."