1. [n]  large black bird with a straight bill and long wedge-shaped tail
2. [v]  feed greedily
3. [v]  eat greedily
4. [v]  prey on or hunt for; "These mammals predate certain eggs"
5. [v]  obtain or seize by violence

1. \Ra"ven\, n. [AS. hr[ae]fn; akin to raaf, G. rabe, OHG.
   hraban, Icel. hrafn, Dan. ravn, and perhaps to L. corvus, Gr.
   ?. ???.] (Zo["o]l.)
   A large black passerine bird ({Corvus corax}), similar to the
   crow, but larger. It is native of the northern part of
   Europe, Asia and America, and is noted for its sagacity.
   {Sea raven} (Zo["o]l.), the cormorant.
   

2. \Ra"ven\, a.
   Of the color of the raven; jet black; as, raven curls; raven
   darkness.
   

3. \Rav"en\, n. [OF. ravine impetuosity, violence, F. ravine
   ravine. See {Ravine}, {Rapine}.] [Written also {ravin}, and
   {ravine}.]
   1. Rapine; rapacity. --Ray.
   2. Prey; plunder; food obtained by violence.
   

4. \Rav"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Ravened}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Ravening}.] [Written also ravin, and ravine.]
   1. To obtain or seize by violence. --Hakewill.
   2. To devoir with great eagerness.
            Like rats that ravin down their proper bane. --Shak.
   

5. \Rav"en\, v. i.
   To prey with rapacity; to be greedy; to show rapacity.
   [Written also {ravin}, and {ravine}.]
         Benjamin shall raven as a wolf.          --Gen. xlix.
                                                  27.
   

Heb. 'orebh, from a root meaning "to be black" (comp. Cant. 5:11); first mentioned as "sent forth" by Noah from the ark (Gen. 8:7). "Every raven after his kind" was forbidden as food (Lev. 11:15; Deut. 14:14). Ravens feed mostly on carrion, and hence their food is procured with difficulty (Job 38:41; Ps. 147:9). When they attack kids or lambs or weak animals, it is said that they first pick out the eyes of their victims (Prov. 30:17). When Elijah was concealed by the brook Cherith, God commanded the ravens to bring him "bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening" (1 Kings 17:3-6). (See ELIJAH.)

There are eight species of ravens in Palestine, and they are everywhere very numerous in that land.