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
nounPeople Are Reading
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
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Many attendees at the Hay Festival relate to that urge to devour texts and knowledge.
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In the nine days the Warriors rested after the Western Conference finals, Durant devoured film and scouting notes on James, focusing mostly on defense.
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But in googly-eyed splendor, the Muppet quickly devoured it.
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But the silent era was dominated by this scenery-devouring 1920 John Barrymore version, directed by John S. Robertson, which SIFF will screen with a live score by The Invincible Czars.
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Adjacent to the town was a gigantic rail yard where switch engines moved and assembled incoming boxcars into long trains, which would then be towed, to distant cities where their contents would be devoured for the war effort.
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In January, an eastern brown snake, one of the world’s most venomous, startled a woman in Australia by devouring an entire carpet python on her patio.
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Davis runner devours field, seeks more at CIF State Track finals Michael Vernau of Davis High School wins his third successive 3,200-meter Masters championship and eyes a medal effort in the CIF State meet this weekend.
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This handheld vac easily devoured everything from rocks to bobby pins in our tests.
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
First Known Use: 14th century
DEVOUR Defined for Kids
devour
playDefinition 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.
Learn More about devour
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for devour Spanish Central: Translation of devour Nglish: Translation of devour for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of devour for Arabic speakers
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