▪ I. † rave, n.1 Obs. rare.
[a. F. rave (15th c.):—L. rāpa rape n.5]
A turnip.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 170 Armorace Or arborace that wilde raues are. Ibid. ix. 53 Rave as brasyk for vyne as ille is fonde. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xviii. 21 Ther grow good Melons, Raues, and pateques. |
▪ II. rave, n.2
(reɪv)
[Var. of rathe n.2]
1. a. A rail of a cart; esp. pl. a framework of rails or boards (permanent or removable) added to the sides of a cart to enable a greater load to be carried. b. U.S. One of the vertical side-pieces in the body of a wagon or sleigh.
| 1530 Palsgr. 261/1 Ravys of a carte. 1575 Turberv. Venerie 195 When the sayd cariage is loded, he forget not to cause his Cooke and Butler to hang good store of bags and bottels about the raues and pinnes thereof. 1623 J. Taylor (Water P.) World runnes on Wheeles Wks. (1630) ii. 242/1 Of the bottome of an old Cart, one may make a fence to stop a gap; of the Raues one may make a Ladder for Hennes to goe to Roost. 1688 S. Sewall Diary 18 Apr. (1878) I. 211 Jack..dies..by the oversetting of the Cart, he (probably) sitting in it, the Rave fell on's neck and kill'd him. 1720 Strype Stow's Surv. (1754) II. v. xiv. 314/2 The Raves thereof shall be higher than the Raves of the street cars or carts to keep the fuel the safer from falling off. 1834 Brit. Husb. I. 163 The inside depth, below the raves, which are boarded, is 2 feet, and the projection of the raves 9 inches. 1847 Rep. Comm. Patents 1846 (U.S.) 81 The raves are carried in front in such a form as to furnish a frame for the dash-board. 1851 J. S. Springer Forest Life v. 106 It was astonishing to see how he [sc. a teamster] had gnawed the rave of the sled. 1865 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Ser. ii. I. ii. 399 This cart has head and tail ladders, in place of raves. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 594/1 Bob Sleigh Gearing..Bob Knees..Bob Raves..Bob Rollers. |
| attrib. 1884 West Sussex Gaz. 25 Sept., Rave cart, three dung carts. 1886 Sci. Amer. 27 Feb. 130/2 The rave bolts [in a bob sleigh] extend upward from the runners in front and rear of the knees, and the raves rest between their ends on the bottom of the recess. |
† 2. App. a rung of a ladder. Obs. rare—1.
Cf. ‘Rave, bars or strips of wood across any opening’ (Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk.).
| 1566 Partridge Plasidas C v b, The scaling lathers downe to throwe they haue their iron staues; They haue their hatchets for to cut in sunder all their raues. |
3. Weaving. A bar fitted with teeth or pins, used to separate and guide the threads of the warp while it is being wound on the beam.
| 1886 Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk. s.v., The object of the rave is to keep the threads even, and to make them lie on the beam at the same width as the intended piece of cloth. |
▪ III. rave, n.3
(reɪv)
[f. rave v.1]
1. The (or an) act of raving; frenzy, great excitement.
| 1598 Yong Diana 403 Like a sturdie rocke it standes Against the cruell raues..Of beating windes and waues. 1652 Benlowes Theoph. x. xxxviii, So, have we rid out storms, when Eol's rave Plough'd up the ocean. 1765 J. Brown Chr. Jrnl. (1814) 80 Whether I die in a rave or in extremity of pain. 1820 J. H. Wiffen Aonian Hours (ed. 2) 27 Meanwhile the rave Of gusty winds spake loudly. 1896 Mrs. C. Clarke My Long Life 103 She concluded amid a rave of admiring plaudits. |
2. slang. a. A passionate (and usu. transitory) liking for or infatuation with a person or thing; a sudden display of extreme enthusiasm or popularity, a ‘craze’. Also, one who or that which excites feelings of this kind.
| 1902 Farmer & Henley Slang V. 380/2 Rave,..a strong liking; a craze: as ‘X has a rave on Miss Z.’ 1924 G. B. Stern Tents of Israel xvi. 240 Even if Jeanne-Marie had a rave on me, I'm not responsible. 1927 L. Mayer Just between us Girls xv. 91 He said I was simply a rave in these pajamas. 1941 L. Eyles For my Enemy Daughter vii. 161 That, too, is a bit schoolgirlish, isn't it? Getting a ‘rave’ on a woman I admire. 1949 N. Marsh Swing, Brother, Swing iii. 38 Carlisle remembered the confidences that Félicité had poured out in her convent days, concerning what she called her ‘raves’. 1958 People 4 May 14/7 Kitza Kazacos, Greek singer, who became a rave on B.B.C. but was allowed to languish without follow-up dates, now tells me from New York that she is on three TV programmes. 1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 70 The newest of the teenage singing raves. 1962 L. Davidson Rose of Tibet 8 T.L. had been having at the time one of his not uncommon raves; on this occasion for the mental-disciplinary benefits of a classical language. |
b. A highly enthusiastic or laudatory review or notice of a book, play, film, etc. Also in extended use, a favourable opinion; a strong recommendation. Freq. attrib. (passing into adj.). orig. U.S.
No earlier definite example of this use has been traced in Variety (see quot. 1926).
| 1926 Amer. Mercury Dec. 464/2 One of the paper's [sc. Variety's] coinages should be officially embraced by the dictionary and bred into the language. It refers to a flattering, enthusiastic review by a sycophantic critic as a rave. 1935 E. E. Cummings Let. 31 Jan. (1969) 135 Have been epistling with Pound, whom yessed in Paris for a full ½ hour under lurid misapprehension that his ‘Douglas’ rave intended ‘South Wind’. 1936 Amer. Speech XI. 221 The producer waits for the early editions of the morning papers. He scans them avidly for the notices. They may be raves, in which case the critics have reviewed the show in glowing superlatives. 1942 Melody Maker 4 July 5/4 Raves coming thick and fast for George Auld's new powerhouse band now at the Arcadia Ballroom, N.Y. 1943 D. Powell Time to be Born i. 6 The critical raves and the big sale. 1951 Wodehouse Old Reliable ix. 114 Of course he can open the safe. He's an expert. You should have read what the papers said of him at the time of the trial. He got rave notices. 1958 Listener 27 Nov. 898/1, I yield to none in my admiration for this pianist, whose first London notice I had the honour to write long before the war (a ‘rave’ in case you think I am always wrong). 1961 John o' London's 12 Oct. 423/1, I don't suppose The Young Doctors..will collect rave tributes. 1969 Gish & Pinchot Lillian Gish xv. 222 Richard Barthelmess also received raves for his sensitive portrayal of Cheng. 1972 [see pan n.1 11]. 1974 Publishers Weekly 26 Aug. 299/2 The later work is distinctly finer than the earlier (though that was good enough to draw a rave foreword, here reprinted, from Ford Madox Ford). 1977 M. Kenyon Rapist v. 50 His music..had opened to raves in New York. 1979 Tucson Mag. Apr. 68/3 These three-day bus tours..have received rave notices from all who have gone along. 1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Oct. 1131/1 Enzensberger's rave review of the novel is reprinted. |
c. A lively party; a rowdy gathering.
| 1960 News Chron. 16 Feb. 6, I wandered around to a rave I knew was going on in Covent Garden. 1963 Sunday Times 8 Sept. 29/3 A rave, blast or orgy—all synonyms for party. 1964 C. Dale Other People iv. 96 A man who..thought that parties—‘raves’—ended at ten-thirty. 1965 G. Melly Owning-Up vii. 75 We..organized all-night raves. 1968 Listener 7 Nov. 606/1 Have you heard, the Touch-Paceys are economising this year by combining their children's bonfire party with their annual fancy dress rave? |
Hence rave-in (see -in3), rave-up = sense 2 c above.
| 1967 Melody Maker 21 Jan. 10 Pop enthusiasts have been treated to rave-ups featuring such world-class stars as the Four Tops. 1967 New Statesman 17 Mar. 356/3 Last week police arrested scores of teenagers at a rave-in, and left-wing Catholics staged a pray-in. 1972 ‘Miss Read’ Tyler's Row vii. 88 ‘Well, let's have this rave-up of a meal now,’ suggested Peter. 1973 H. Miller Open City ix. 89 Phyllis McBain is invited to an old-style rave-up, knickers and husbands optional. 1974 R. Rendell Face of Trespass ii. 29 Some Victorian pretence that a simple Westbourne Grove rave-up was really a conference. 1977 Rolling Stone 7 Apr. 20/1 (Advt.), When Argent, that legendary British band of so many hit songs and rave-up performances, began to wane, these three musicians stepped out of its shadow and into the fierce light of their own creative genius. |
Add: [2.] d. (a) A large, often illicit party or event, with dancing to fast electronic popular music, and sometimes associated with the use of recreational drugs such as LSD and Ecstasy; (b) electronic dance music of the kind played at such events. Freq. attrib., esp. in rave music, rave scene. Cf. Acid House party s.v. *Acid House n. 2; warehouse party s.v. *warehouse n. 2.
| 1989 Independent 3 July 3/5 The most extraordinary scenes came after 100 police stopped Berkshire's mammoth party...Jeremy Taylor, one-time organiser of the Gatecrashers' Ball—a Sloanie teenage rave—was behind the party. 1989 Face Dec. 63/2 The current rave culture is, in many ways, the revenge of the suburbs... In the suburbs, the car is all... In a club culture where mobility is essential, the suburbs rule. 1991 Sun 13 June 26/1 If you want to dress for success on the rave scene you'll need a proper selection of pukka gear. 1991 Daily Tel. 4 Nov. 19/5 Now, the music is in the charts, there are licensed raves all over the place, and the punters know they can go and dance the night away in a place which is not a fire hazard. 1992 Economist 30 May 34/1 To the uneducated ear, rave music is a bone-jangling din, hurtling along at up to 200 beats a minute. 1993 Crosswinds (New Mexico) Jan.–Feb. 18/1 Sampling is..the only truly new musical form of the Nineties, used in everything from Rap to Rave. 1993 Gnosis Winter 56/1 Two years ago, a new burst of recreational use revived interest in Ecstasy in the U.S. Nicknamed the ‘acid house’ or ‘rave’ scene, it appears to be a new youth movement both similar to and different from the counterculture of the '60s. 1995 Guardian 28 Feb. ii. 15/3 For many youngsters, fun doesn't come any better than the raves and nightclubs where Ecstasy, amphetamines and other drugs complement the hypnotic music and incandescent lights. |
▸ 'ravey adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of a rave party or rave music.
| 1991 Times 22 Aug. 13/7 There are the local reggae stations, and the ‘*ravey’ ones who basically exist to promote parties. 1999 M. Cunningham Live & Kicking xxx. 334 Kaleidovision, the people who also put together all the ravey graphics. 2004 Time Out 25 Aug. 131/4 Lottie, Red Jerry..and more remember their days of yoof at a party with white sheets, smiley faces, dry ice, UV lights, glo-sticks and more ravey fun! |
▪ IV. rave, v.1
(reɪv)
Also 5 rafe, raffe, 6 Sc. raif(f, rawe, reave.
[? a. OF. raver, app. a variant (of rare occurrence) of rêver to dream, be delirious, etc., of obscure origin: for conjectures, see Diez (s.v. rêve) and Körting (s.v. rabia).]
1. a. intr. To be mad, to show signs of madness or delirium (obs.); hence, to talk or declaim wildly or furiously in consequence of madness or some violent passion. Occas. (now only dial.), to talk loudly or boisterously, to shout or bawl.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 116 (65) Ye ben so wylde it semeth þat ye raue. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 282 Ech of hem..wenen that I scholde rave For Anger that thei se me have. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vi. ccxiv. 231 Stigandus..sayde..y{supt} the Kynge raued, or ellys doted for age & sykenesse. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariït Wemen 481 Sum raiffis [v.r. raveis] furght rudly with riatus speche. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 5137 Thocht sum de Naturally, throuch aige, Fer mo deis raiffand in one raige. 1620 Middleton Chaste Maid v. i. 13 He raves already; His senses are quite gone. 1727 Swift Poisoning of E. Curll, Mr. Curll raved aloud in this manner: ‘If I survive this, I will be revenged on Tonson’. 1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms iii. 56 No more the pining Mariner In wild delirium raves. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. vi. 110 She talks like one who raves in fever. |
b. Const. with preps. as about, against, at, of; for.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 982 Let him have time against himself to rave. 1639 Fuller Holy War iii. xx. (1647) 144 Those who when bemadded with anger, most rave and rage against them. 1707 E. Smith Phædra & Hipp. i. i, Sometimes she raves for Musick, Light, and Air. 1733 Swift Legion Club, Let them rave at making laws. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell 3rd i. ix, Raved of God and sin and death, Blaspheming like an infidel. a 1822 ― Tower of Fam. 6 Whose dwellers rave for bread, and gold, and blood. 1884 Chr. Commw. 14 Feb. 416/2 The Times is already raving about our having reached ‘a crisis’. |
c. Of animals. rare.
| 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. viii, He heard the baffled dogs in vain Rave through the hollow pass amain. 1848 A. B. Evans Leicestersh. Words s.v., That sow's always raving and revelling so. |
2. transf. a. Of the sea, storms, etc.: To rage; to dash, rush, roar, etc., in a furious manner.
| 1559 Mirr. Mag., Dk. Suffolk xxii, The windy sourges whan they rave. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xi. 32 Like as a fire, the which in hollow cave..With murmurous disdayne doth inly rave. 1629 Milton Nativity 67 The milde Ocean, Who now hath quite forgot to rave. 1726–46 Thomson Winter 186 The whirling tempest raves along the plain. 1767 Sir W. Jones Seven Fountains Poems (1777) 54 Where the dark sea with angry billows raves. 1811 Scott Don Roderick ii. lix, When the pibroch bids the battle rave. 1856 Longfellow Gold. Leg. v. Devil's Bridge, The cataract, That raves and rages down the steep. |
b. Of a disordered mental state. rare.
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 135 Not Frenzie, Not absolute madnesse could so farre haue rau'd To bring him heere alone. 1638 Sandys Paraphr. Job xi. 15 Shall these wild distempers of thy mind..thus rave, and find No opposition? |
3. a. To talk or declaim with enthusiasm or poetic rapture. Also const. about, of, † upon.
| a 1704 Locke Conduct Und. §24 This raving upon antiquity in matter of poetry, Horace has..exposed in one of his satires. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. ii, How blythly can he sport and gently rave. 1781 Cowper Retirement 735 Solitude, however some may rave, Seeming a sanctuary, proves a grave. 1816 Jane Austen Emma II. xv. 282, I quite rave about Jane Fairfax. 1838 Lytton Alice iv. ix, How people can rave about Italy, I can't think. 1880 Ouida Moths I. 56 It is not his singing that makes the great ladies rave of him. 1921 Collier's 16 Apr. 20/2 He began to ‘rave’, about the place he had built on Long Island for him and Delores. 1978 J. Updike Coup iv. 150 So you're the young man my daughter has been raving about. |
b. slang. To give oneself over to enjoyment; to ‘live it up’; to depart rowdily or with the intention of having a good time. Cf. rave n.3 2 c.
| 1961 New Statesman 26 May 830/2 When we got there, most of the art-student element had raved off to some shindig. 1965 G. Melly Owning-Up vii. 75 The word ‘rave’, meaning to live it up, was as far as I know a Mulligan–Godbolt invention. 1965 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 19 Sept. 13/3 He started out by raving at weekends to Bridlington. |
4. a. trans. To utter in a frenzied or enthusiastic manner. Also with out.
| 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. v, Like to some boy, that actes a tragedie,..and raves out passion. 1742 Young Nt. Th. vii. 596 Pride, like the Delphic priestess, with a swell Rav'd nonsense. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell 3rd vi. xxxii, For he now raved enormous folly. 1887 G. Meredith Ballads & P. 95 Thus their prayer was raved, and ceased. |
b. To lament frantically. rare—1.
| 1810 Splendid Follies I. 16 It was then he wept—he raved the departure of Seraphina. |
5. quasi-trans. with complement: To bring (into a specified state) by raving.
| 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. lxxxiii, But passion raves itself to rest, or flies. 1850 Whipple Ess. & Rev. (ed. 3) I. 402 To rave men into some new heresy. |
Add: [3.] [a.] to rant and rave: see *rant v. 1 c.
▪ V. rave, v.2 north. dial. and Sc.
[App. of Scand. origin: cf. Icel. ráfa in same sense (not recorded in ON.).]
intr. To wander, stray, rove, † err. (Now rare or Obs.)
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 665 Bot resoun, of ryȝt þat con not raue, Sauez euer more þe innossent. c 1400 Rule St. Benet 57/362 Hir awn sawle wele may sche saue, Al if hir schepe vnryght wyl raue. c 1440 York Myst. xxiv. 159 Allas! for ruthe, now may I raue, And febilly fare by frith and felde. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 71 Quhen..he lang had rauet and wandirit, at last he arriuet in Numidie. Ibid. 85 Albeit sum of thame raue and declyne by the way [L. alii aberrent]. 1841 Hawkins Poems v. 24 (E.D.D.) Wi' ither dogs I maunna rave. |
Hence † ˈraving ppl. a.2, straying. Obs. rare—1.
| c 1400 Rule St. Benet 56/292 Vnto no hird þai wil tak kepe, Bot raykes forth als raueand schep. |
▪ VI. rave, v.3 Obs. exc. dial.
[Of obscure origin: for the sense, cf. rive v.]
trans. To tear, drag, pull. Usually with up: To drag or rake up.
| c 1440 Gesta Rom. lx. 248 He Ranne to the false Emperes, and Ravid hir evin to the bone. 1486 Nottingham Rec. III. 247 Raving vp of gravell and leying hit on agayn. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 108 Whereas we should bee shorte in tellyng the matter..the best is to speake no more than needes we must, not rauyng it from the bottome. 1610 Cooke Pope Joan 63 He neuer purposed to raue vp all the filth which he found written of your Popes. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Rave up, to take up, to pull up. (2) To repeat evil stories relating to by-past time. |
b. To poke or pry into. (Cf. ravel v. 4.) rare.
| 1636 Sanderson Serm. iv. Wks. 1854 I. 100 It can be little pleasure to us to rave into the infirmities of God's servants. 1856 Thompson Boston Gloss., Rave up, to repeat old stories; to search or rave into anything. |
Hence ˈraving, vbl. n.2
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 9 Euermore the gladder the lesse rauyng there is, or stirryng in this matter. |
▪ VII. † rave, v.4 Sc. Obs.
Also raif.
[Perh. a. F. ravir to ravish, if not a mere variant of reif, reve reave v.]
trans. To take away by force.
| 1549 Compl. Scot. viii. 73 My mortal enemeis purchessis to raif my liberte. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 6280 Deith..rauis þame frome þare rent, ryches, and ringis. a 1598 Rollock Wks. (1844) II. vii. 84 They would climb up to heaven and rave it from God. |
Hence † ˈraving vbl. n.3 and ppl. a.3 Obs.
| 1549 Compl. Scot. Ep. to Queen 2 The rauand sauuage volffis..that deuoris..scheip for ther pray. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 273 Thair was nathing bot rwgging and raveing of the puir laubouraris. |
▪ VIII. rave
obs. pa. tense rive v.