rapacious

[Lat. rapax (gen it, rapacis )= grasping, from rapio =to seize, to grasp; French rapace; Sp.rapaz; Ital. rapace.] 1. Given to plundering or pillaging: seizing by force; disposed or accustomed to seize by force. "Dreading blind rapacious War." Thomson: Liberty, iv. 2. Greedy, avaricious, grasping. "Who then had toil'd rapacious men to tame?" Thomson: Castle of Indolence, ii. 53. 3. Characterized by rapacity, greed, or avarice; greedy. "The rapacious appetite of gain."- Cowley : E ay vii., Of Avarice. 4. Accustomed to seize for food; living on food seized by force; as, rapacious animals. ra-pa-cio us-ly, adv. [English rapacious; -ly.] In a rapacious, grasping, greedy, or avaricious manner. ra-pā-cio us-ne , s . [Eng. rapacious ; -ne .] The quality or state of being rapacious, greedy, or avaricious; rapacity, greed, avarice; disposition to plunder or oppre by exactions.