From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Reave \Reave\ (r[=e]v), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Reaved} (r[=e]vd),
{Reft} (r[e^]ft), or {Raft} (r[.a]ft) (obs.); p. pr. & vb. n.
{Reaving}.] [AS. re['a]fian, from re['a]f spoil, plunder,
clothing, re['o]fan to break (cf. bire['o]fan to deprive of);
akin to G. rauben to rob, Icel. raufa to rob, rj[=u]fa to
break, violate, Goth. bir['a]ub[=o]n to despoil, L. rumpere
to break; cf. Skr. lup to break. [root]114. Cf. {Bereave},
{Rob}, v. t., {Robe}, {Rove}, v. i., {Rupture}.]
To take away by violence or by stealth; to snatch away; to
rob; to despoil; to bereave. [Archaic]. "To reave his life."
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
He golden apples raft of the dragon. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
If the wooers reave
By privy stratagem my life at home. --Chapman.
[1913 Webster]
To reave the orphan of his patrimony. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The heathen caught and reft him of his tongue.
--Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
reave
v 1: steal goods; take as spoils; "During the earthquake people
looted the stores that were deserted by their owners" [syn:
{plunder}, {despoil}, {loot}, {reave}, {strip}, {rifle},
{ransack}, {pillage}, {foray}]
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