▪ I. raving, vbl. n.1
(ˈreɪvɪŋ)
[-ing1.]
The action of rave v.1; wild or delirious talk or declamation.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 424/2 Ravynge, deliracio. 1530 Tindale Answ. More Wks. 285 That stoppyng of her throte, that rauyng, those greuous panges. 1624 Massinger Renegado iv. i, Our best hope for his recovery is that His raving leaves him. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 46 ¶1 There is nothing in them but Obscurity and Confusion, Raving and Inconsistency. 1803 Chalmers Let. in Life (1851) I. 480 In vain will you say that this is idle and declamatory raving. |
| attrib. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xi. iv, Imagine the maddest woman in Bedlam in a raving fit. |
b. With a and pl. An utterance of this kind; † a fit of madness.
| c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 895 Schir Rolland, I rek nocht of thy Rauingis. 1638 A. Read Chirurg. x. 75 A convulsion or raving, which ensueth after immoderate bleeding. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne etc. Of Genius 286 The ravings of lunatics have often been more regarded than the arguments of wise men. 1885 Manch. Exam. 7 Jan. 5/2 We hear ravings over here about ‘one-sided’ Free Trade. |
▸ orig. and chiefly Brit. Participation in or attendance at a rave (rave n.3 3b); the action of dancing to rave music.
| 1990 Face June 100/3 Glasgow is fast becoming Britain's undisputed mecca for raving. 1992 Independent 6 Mar. 6/1 Just as house music borrows from a host of musical sources, raving steals from hip-hop, disco, vogueing and aerobics. 1993 Sun Mag. (Baltimore) 15 Aug. 10 She never attends a rave without bringing something to give away—usually toys or candy. ‘I just feel that a part of raving is sharing,’ she says. 1996 C. J. Stone Fierce Dancing i. 10 Gem was the reason I took up raving in the first place. 2002 New Statesman 6 May 33/3 A London-based infrastructure..that is basically anarcho-capitalist, and has existed since the early days of raving in the 1990s. |
▪ II. raving, vbl. n.2 and vbl. n.3
see rave v.3 and v.4
▪ III. raving, ppl. a.1
(ˈreɪvɪŋ)
[f. rave v.1 + -ing2.]
1. Delirious, frenzied; raging.
| c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 650 To his raifand word he gaue na rewaird. a 1585 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 29 Thy ragged roundels, raueand royt. 1641 Milton Reform. ii. Wks. (1851) 71 To exercise a Raving and Bestiall Tyranny over them. a 1704 T. Brown Sat. Quack Wks. 1730 I. 64 All mankind the raving monster shun. 1781 Cowper Conv. 559 The raving storm and dashing wave. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xi, A settled gloom, which..finally terminated in raving madness. |
b. quasi-adv. with adjs., esp. mad.
| 1786 Burns Toothache iii, Raving mad, I wish [etc.]. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab v. 113 When..religion Drives his wife raving mad. 1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 503/1 The loco, or rattle-weed,..drives them raving crazy. |
2. U.S. slang. That excites raving admiration; superlative.
| 1886 in Cent. Dict. 1892 F. M. Crawford Three Fates II. 102 You are such a raving success, as they call it. |
▪ IV. raving, ppl. a.2 and ppl. a.3
see rave v.2 and v.4