Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Savage \Sav"age\ (?; 48), a. [F. sauvage, OF. salvage, fr. L.
   silvaticus belonging to a wood, wild, fr. silva a wood. See
   {Silvan}, and cf. {Sylvatic}.]
   1. Of or pertaining to the forest; remote from human abodes
      and cultivation; in a state of nature; wild; as, a savage
      wilderness.

   2. Wild; untamed; uncultivated; as, savage beasts.

            Cornels, and savage berries of the wood. --Dryden.

   3. Uncivilized; untaught; unpolished; rude; as, savage life;
      savage manners.

            What nation, since the commencement of the Christian
            era, ever rose from savage to civilized without
            Christianity?                         --E. D.
                                                  Griffin.

   4. Characterized by cruelty; barbarous; fierce; ferocious;
      inhuman; brutal; as, a savage spirit.

   Syn: Ferocious; wild; uncultivated; untamed; untaught;
        uncivilized; unpolished; rude; brutish; brutal;
        heathenish; barbarous; cruel; inhuman; fierce; pitiless;
        merciless; unmerciful; atrocious. See {Ferocious}.

Savage \Sav"age\, n.
   1. A human being in his native state of rudeness; one who is
      untaught, uncivilized, or without cultivation of mind or
      manners.

   2. A man of extreme, unfeeling, brutal cruelty; a barbarian.

Savage \Sav"age\ (?; 48), v. t.
   To make savage. [R.]

         Its bloodhounds, savaged by a cross of wolf. --Southey.

Source : WordNet®

savage
     adj 1: (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict
            pain or suffering; "a barbarous crime"; "brutal
            beatings"; "cruel tortures"; "Stalin's roughshod
            treatment of the kulaks"; "a savage slap"; "vicious
            kicks" [syn: {barbarous}, {brutal}, {cruel}, {fell}, {roughshod},
             {vicious}]
     2: wild and menacing; "a ferocious dog" [syn: {feral}, {ferine}]
     3: without civilizing influences; "barbarian invaders";
        "barbaric practices"; "a savage people"; "fighting is
        crude and uncivilized especially if the weapons are
        efficient"-Margaret Meade; "wild tribes" [syn: {barbarian},
         {barbaric}, {uncivilized}, {uncivilised}, {wild}]
     4: marked by extreme and violent energy; "a ferocious beating";
        "fierce fighting"; "a furious battle" [syn: {ferocious}, {fierce},
         {furious}]

savage
     n 1: a member of an uncivilized people [syn: {barbarian}]
     2: a cruelly rapacious person [syn: {beast}, {wolf}, {brute}, {wildcat}]

savage
     v 1: attack brutally and fiercely
     2: criticize harshly or violently; "The press savaged the new
        President"; "The critics crucified the author for
        plagiarizing a famous passage" [syn: {pillory}, {crucify}]