Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Lexicon: rashness – ravel
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rashness, n. [Origin uncertain; perhaps OE *ræsc.]
Harshness; violence; torture; callousness; cruelty; heartless acts; unthinkable brutality; [fig.] wounds, bleeding, stripes, lash marks, and other physical traumas of Christ's crucifixion.
rat, n. [OE ræt.] (webplay: cat, noise).
Rodent; mouse; vermin; lowly pest; despised creature perceived as a nuisance by humans; animal often preyed upon by house cats; small, four-legged, hairy mammal that makes its home by gnawing holes in the walls of houses.
rate (-s), n. [OFr rate < L. rērī, think, judge.] (webplay: comparative).
Value; price; amount; quantity required in exchange for a desired object; [fig.] knowledge of the afterlife.
rather, adv. [OE hraðe.] (webplay: art, better, death, fear'd, God, hasty, hear, life, ready, slain, sought, speak, word).
- Preferably; sooner; more readily; more willingly.
- Instead; alternatively.
- More correctly; more precisely.
- Fairly; quite; particularly; especially; somewhat.
- Phrase. “Rather than”: instead of; better than; more preferably than.
ratify (ratified), v. [Fr. ratifier < L. ratificāre; see rate, n.] (webplay: daily, purchase, wheat).
- Confirm; settle; validate; legitimize; contract; seal; bond; agree upon; make legal; make permanent.
- Classify; establish; certify; authenticate; prove; show to be genuine.
- Approve; sanction; countenance; authorize; allow; endorse.
ratio, n. [L. rat-, ppl. stem of rērī, to think.] (webplay: common, dear, estimate, hour).
- Proportion; comparative relation; appropriate relative quantity or magnitude.
- Magnitude; size; amount; importance.
rattle (-s), v. [ME ratelen; probably of echoic origin.]
- Shake; clatter; produce noise; make a clicking sound by striking repeatedly against another object; [fig.] spill; pour out; fall to the ground with a clattering sound.
- Stir; produce noises characteristic of waking from slumber; [fig.] emerge; awake; arise; come forth.
ravage, v. [Fr. ravir, seize, take away < L. rapěre, take by force.] (webplay: heart, love).
Crush; devastate; destroy; tear apart; break into pieces; [fig.] hurt; afflict; sting; grieve; distress; cause sorrow for.
rave (-s), v. [OFr rêver, dream, be delirious.]
Shout; rage; rant; cry out; utter furious exclamations; vocally express anger.
ravel (-led), v. [Du. ravelen, tangle, fray out, unweave.]
Unweave itself; disentangle itself; become unknit; [fig.] spill; flow; run; fall; drop; escape.