How to Use ravage in a Sentence

ravage

1 of 2 noun
  • And there will be a future, however great the ravages of the virus.
    — Daniel K. Gardner, The New Republic, 9 Apr. 2020
  • Nothing can fully protect you from the ravages of a flood, of course.
    — Tim Woodward, idahostatesman, 19 May 2017
  • This movie imagines an African nation not damaged by the ravages of the slave trade.
    — Jerry Large, The Seattle Times, 18 Feb. 2018
  • Young activists, who will be forced to live with the ravages of climate change, find this upsetting.
    — David Roberts, Vox, 21 Dec. 2018
  • Progress in medicine has destroyed that era’s worst health ravages, and changes keep coming, extending life spans.
    — Ken Fisher, USA TODAY, 1 Apr. 2018
  • Almost nine years later, the ravages of treatment have faded.
    — Nathan Fenno, latimes.com, 20 Jan. 2018
  • The ravages of the opioid epidemic may be having an effect as well.
    — Justin Lahart, WSJ, 8 May 2018
  • But the ravages of climate change have hit the animals, which depend on sea ice to survive, hard.
    — Palko Karasz, BostonGlobe.com, 19 June 2019
  • Today those same buildings, rescued from the ravages of war and time, are in active daily use.
    — Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Oct. 2017
  • These stylized works of art show the ravages of baking summers and bitter winters.
    — National Geographic, 17 June 2019
  • All Jim Tonelli has to do to see the ravages of emerald ash borer is walk out his back door.
    — Lee Bergquist, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 25 June 2018
  • Fiberglass is made to stand up to the ravages of summer sun and salt water, so a little snow should be a problem, right?
    — Popmech Editors, Popular Mechanics, 21 Nov. 2019
  • School nurse Heather Hays watched fentanyl’s ravages on the nightly news and grew worried.
    — Maggie Prosser, Dallas News, 14 Sep. 2023
  • At the same time, the continent has become a dramatic stage for the ravages of climate change.
    — Matt Simon, Wired, 15 Jan. 2020
  • The rock ’n’ roll ravages have done their thing, but those fabulous cheekbones — and that stare — remain intact.
    — Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 11 July 2019
  • As my bookseller friend knew, its ravages often leave the remaining copies of a work all the more valuable.
    — Kevin Young, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2019
  • Some women embraced taking oestrogen as a way to defeat the ravages of time.
    — The Economist, 12 Dec. 2019
  • When this truth is widely understood, some progress may be made in staying the frightful ravages of opium.
    — Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 5 Aug. 2022
  • Now the archdiocese is seeking help to save Notre Dame from yielding to the ravages of time.
    — Vivienne Walt / Paris, Time, 27 July 2017
  • The area in west Houston paid tribute to the survivors and those who are fighting the ravages of breast cancer.
    — Staff Report, Houston Chronicle, 23 Oct. 2017
  • The ravages of Harvey and losing that crop also affected last year’s non-event—no fruit.
    — David Taylor, Houston Chronicle, 23 Sep. 2019
  • But the ravages of time lend him a dash of character-actor underdog appeal to go with the star power.
    — Noah Berlatsky, CNN, 7 Apr. 2023
  • Adding to these burdens were the poor soil and periodic ravages of the pestilential boll weevil.
    — Trevor Paulhus, Smithsonian, 19 Sep. 2019
  • By 2005, news of meth’s ravages were on display in the national media.
    — Joshua Sharpe, ajc, 4 July 2018
  • One grumbles when the driver rants about development’s ravages.
    — Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 10 Aug. 2025
  • State officials held their first opioid workshop in the heart of a county where the ravages of drug addiction were on full display.
    — Ryan Van Velzer, Sun-Sentinel.com, 1 May 2017
  • The contemplation of time’s ravages is more interesting than most of the film’s action.
    — Ross Douthat, National Review, 24 Oct. 2019
  • Of course the ravages of apartheid legacy then intervened, the education base of the country, is what has also set us back.
    — The Economist, 18 Oct. 2019
  • Pest controllers Wallace and Gromit must save the day when a vegetable-munching beast ravages town gardens.
    — Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2019
  • Luck is not the first player, or even the first star, to retire early because of the NFL's ravages.
    — Adam Kilgore, courant.com, 26 Aug. 2019

ravage

2 of 2 verb
  • In fact, two-thirds of the men had come aboard ravaged with scurvy.
    — Mike O’Brien, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2023
  • On the news, Ukraine was ravaged.
    — Manuel Muñoz, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The grief still ravaged me in the way only grief could.
    — Literary Hub, 15 Apr. 2026
  • And the rest of us are ravaged with student debt.
    — Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 20 Jan. 2026
  • But anyone who goes there now will find the area has been ravaged.
    — Gregory Thomas, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Mar. 2026
  • The show’s landscape has long been mapped—and ravaged.
    — Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026
  • This war, that has ravaged so much of the earth, has written these words.
    — Charles Oppenheimer, Variety, 27 Feb. 2024
  • Injuries have ravaged the team.
    — Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
  • The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.
    — CBS News, 19 Apr. 2026
  • No part of the team was ravaged at the trade deadline last season like the bullpen.
    — Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 27 Oct. 2025
  • The Fever are ravaged by injuries.
    — Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Because the nerves were already ravaging his poise.
    — Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2026
  • The April 8th strikes ravaged a range of sites across the country.
    — Rania Abouzeid, New Yorker, 21 May 2026
  • The wind ravaged the storm chasers, grit coating their skin as some scrambled to pack up their gear.
    — Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • She’s ravaged with guilt, but also wants to be free of everything.
    — Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2023
  • The trailer opens with a glimpse of what life was like before a deadly virus ravaged the world.
    — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Pollution has ravaged once-abundant stocks of fish and crab.
    — Mery Mogollón, Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2026
  • The world is being ravaged by these cosplayers.
    — James Folta september 19, Literary Hub, 19 Sep. 2025
  • But in the places the storm ravaged, the extent of the destruction had not yet come into clear view.
    — Derrick Bryson Taylor, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2023
  • The number hasn’t been that low since the pandemic began ravaging the state more than three years ago.
    — Martin Finucane, BostonGlobe.com, 2 May 2023
  • See what’s changed in Altadena since it was ravaged by wildfires.
    — Kyung Lah, CNN Money, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Taiwanese friends have told me that the tariffs are ravaging their businesses.
    — Michelle Kuo, The Dial, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Pine beetles have ravaged forests in Colorado’s mountains for three decades now.
    — Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2025
  • Afghanistan has long been one of Asia’s poorest countries and has been ravaged by conflict for decades.
    — Heather Chen, CNN, 9 Oct. 2023
  • The tall green trees pop against the clear blue sky, until a wildfire ravages the forest and changes Grainger’s life.
    — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 18 Feb. 2026
  • Though cooked perfectly, the turkey looked like it had been ravaged by a wild animal.
    — Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Nov. 2025
  • And then a couple decades later, Dutch elm disease ravaged our native elms.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 9 Aug. 2025
  • But that progress hit some snags last season as injuries ravaged the Trojans’ depth on defense.
    — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Heavy rains and a rot-causing disease have ravaged crops there, sparking concerns about supply.
    — Mumbi Gitau, Fortune, 29 July 2023
  • And, of course, bottom-trawlers can ravage thousand-year-old meadows in a matter of minutes.
    — Tristan Kennedy, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ravage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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