răpax — Lewis & Short
răpax, ācis, adj.rapio,
I grasping, greedy of plunder, rapacious.
I Lit. (class.;
syn. furax): vos rapaces, vos praedones,Plaut. Men. 5, 7, 26; id. Pers. 3, 3, 6:
olim furunculus, nunc vero etiam rapax,Cic. Pis. 27, 66; so with fur, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 2, § 4:
inopiā rapax,Suet. Dom. 3:
procuratorum rapacissimum quemque,id. Vesp. 16; cf. Tac. H. 1, 20:
Cinara,i. e. eager for presents, Hor. Ep. 1, 14, 33; so Tib. 1, 5, 59; 2, 4, 25:
cervi, luporum praeda rapacium,Hor. C. 4, 4, 50; id. Epod. 16, 20; cf.
Harpyiae,id. S. 2, 2, 40.— As subst.: răpax, ācis, comm., a beast of prey, Plin. 11, 45, 101, § 247.—
2 Of things, rapacious, ravenous (mostly poet.):
falces rapaces,Lucr. 3, 650:
ventus,Ov. A. A. 1, 388:
ignis,id. M. 8, 837:
mors,Tib. 1, 3, 65; cf.
Orcus,Hor. C. 2, 18, 30:
fortuna,id. ib. 1, 34, 14:
dentes,fangs, tusks, Veg. 6, 1, 1.—With gen.:
chryselectrum rapacissimum ignium,very ignitible, Plin. 37, 3, 12, § 51.—As a poet. epithet of floods:
amnes,Lucr. 5, 341:
fluvii,id. 1, 17:
unda, Cic. poët. N. D. 3, 10, 24: undae,Ov. M. 8, 550:
Danubius,id. ad Liv. 397.— Hence, transf., an appellation of the twenty-first legion and the soldiers composing it (qs. that sweeps every thing before it), Tac. H. 2, 43; 100; 3, 14; 18; 22.—
II Trop. (rare), with gen., grasping, seizing eagerly or quickly, greedy, avaricious:
nihil est rapacius quam natura,Cic. Lael. 14, 50:
rapacia virtutis ingenia,Sen. Ep. 95, 36:
nostri omnium utilitatum et virtutum rapacissimi,Plin. 25, 2, 2, § 4.