ra·pa·cious [rə páyshəss] adjective
1. grasping: greedy and grasping, especially for money, and sometimes willing to use unscrupulous means to obtain what is desired
2. destructive and vicious: engaging in violent pillaging and likely to harm or destroy things
3. ZOOLOGY predatory: living by eating live prey
[Mid-17th century. From Latin rapac-, stem of rapax “tearing, grasping,” from rapere (see RAPE1).]
- ra·pa·cious·ly, adverb
- ra·pa·cious·ness, noun
- ra·pa·ci·ty, noun
Posted by Fungii at July 29, 2002 08:06 PM