Desolation by violence; violent ruin or destruction; devastation; havoc; waste; as, the ravage of a lion; the ravages of fire or tempest; the ravages of an army, or of time
A town, country, or economy that has been ravaged is one that has been damaged so much that it is almost completely destroyed. For two decades the country has been ravaged by civil war and foreign intervention. Nicaragua's ravaged economy. to damage something very badly (ravager, from ravage , from ravir; RAVISH)