devour

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verb de·vour \ di-ˈvau̇(-ə)r , dē- \

Definition of devour

transitive verb

1 :to eat up greedily or ravenously

devoured the turkey and mashed potatoes

2 :to use up or destroy as if by eating

We are devouring the world's resources.

3 :to prey upon

devoured by guilt

4 :to enjoy avidly

devours books

—

devourer

noun

See devour defined for English-language learners

See devour defined for kids

Examples of devour in a Sentence

He devoured everything on his plate.
The lions devoured their prey.
She devoured every golf magazine she could find.
He watched intently, devouring the scene before him with his eyes.

Recent Examples of devour from the Web

Restaurant-goers devoured more than 1 billion orders of wings in the past year.

— david whitley, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Chickening out is football's next crisis," 26 Aug. 2017
The next, a planet-killing warlord betrays you by throwing an all-devouring swarm at your favorite psychic commando.

— steven strom, Ars Technica, "StarCraft Remastered review: Brood War keeps on ticking, clicking," 21 Aug. 2017
And residents can devour it however — and whenever — they please.

— mallorie sullivan, Cincinnati.com, "Want to explore Cincinnati like the New York Times? Get out your wallet.," 19 Aug. 2017
But there's more to watermelon than devouring it straight-up.

— alexa tucker, SELF, "16 Delicious Summer Watermelon Recipes," 17 Aug. 2017
However, in a strange turn of events, (perhaps not all that surprising to us Southerners), Ryan actually went back to devouring his brisket, despite the near-death choking experience.

— michelle darrisaw, Southern Living, "Chicago Bears Linebacker Saves Man From Choking on Texas Barbecue Brisket," 26 July 2017
A whole steamed fish, slathered in black bean ghee and topped with cilantro, is promptly devoured.

— garrett snyder, Los Angeles Magazine, "The Los Angeles Magazine Hot Restaurant List for July 2017," 18 July 2017
Meanwhile, the newspapers' trade group, after years of the industry watching Facebook and Google devour its ad revenues, now wants an antitrust exemption from Congress to bargain collectively with the two giants and others.

— The Hive, "How the Media Let Itself Get Crushed by Facebook," 11 July 2017
In the presence of fibrils, up to five times more sperm cells were devoured than in the absence of fibrils.

— giorgia guglielmi, Science | AAAS, "Protein tangles behind Alzheimer’s disease may be critical for human reproduction," 11 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'devour.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of devour

Middle English, from Anglo-French devour-, stem of devorer, from Latin devorare, from de- + vorare to devour — more at voracious

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

devour Synonyms

Synonyms

consume, eat (up)

Antonyms

renew, replace

Related Words

gut; deplete, drain, exhaust, expend, spend, use up; annihilate, decimate, demolish, desolate, devastate, do in, pulverize, raze, ruin, shatter, smash, tear down, waste, wreck; annihilate, blot out, eradicate, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, obliterate, remove, rub out, stamp (out), wipe out

Near Antonyms

conserve, preserve, protect, save; build, construct, erect, put up, raise

DEVOUR Defined for Kids

devour

play

verb de·vour \ di-ˈvau̇r \

Definition of devour for Students

devoured; devouring

1 :to eat up hungrily

2 :to take in eagerly by the senses or mind

He devoured the information.

3 :to destroy as if by eating

The buildings were devoured by flames.

Word Root of devour

The Latin word vorāre, meaning “to eat greedily,” gives us the root vor. Words from the Latin vorāre have something to do with eating. An herbivorous animal eats only plants. A carnivorous animal eats only other animals. To devour is to eat up greedily. Anyone voracious likes to eat a lot.