Adjacent Words

Bereave definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BERE'AVE, v.t. pret.bereaved, bereft: pp.bereaved, bereft.
1. To deprive; to strip; to make destitute; with of before the thing taken away.
Me have ye bereaved of my children. Genesis 42.
It is sometimes used without of, and is particularly applied to express the loss of friends by death.
2. To take away from.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: deprive through death

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-reaved or bereft; -reaving) Etymology: Middle English bereven, from Old English ber?afian, from be- + r?afian to rob — more at reave Date: before 12th century 1. to deprive of something — usually used with of <madam, you have bereft me of all words — Shakespeare> 2. to take away (a valued or necessary possession) especially by force

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (esp. as bereaved adj.) (foll. by of) deprive of a relation, friend, etc., esp. by death. Derivatives: bereavement n. Etymology: OE bereafian (as BE-, REAVE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bereave Be*reave", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bereaved, Bereft; p. pr. & vb. n. Bereaving.] [OE. bireven, AS. bere['a]fian. See Be-, and Reave.] 1. To make destitute; to deprive; to strip; -- with of before the person or thing taken away. Madam, you have bereft me of all words. --Shak. Bereft of him who taught me how to sing. --Tickell. 2. To take away from. [Obs.] All your interest in those territories Is utterly bereft you; all is lost. --Shak. 3. To take away. [Obs.] Shall move you to bereave my life. --Marlowe. Note: The imp. and past pple. form bereaved is not used in reference to immaterial objects. We say bereaved or bereft by death of a relative, bereft of hope and strength. Syn: To dispossess; to divest.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Deprive (of something that cannot be restored), dispossess, rob, divest, strip, despoil, spoil, take away from, make destitute of. 2. Deprive of friend or kindred, afflict with personal loss, render lorn.

Moby Thesaurus

abridge, bleed, curtail, cut off, deprive, deprive of, disentitle, disinherit, dispossess, divest, drain, ease one of, leave, leave behind, lighten one of, lose, milk, mine, orphan, oust, rob, strip, take away from, take from, tap, widow