devour

verb

de·vour | \ di-ˈvau̇(-ə)r,

dē-\

devoured; devouring; devours

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

Other Words from devour Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about devour

Keep scrolling for more

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 on the Web

Let’s be real, though: the success of the former First Lady’s memoir is not a shock to anyone who has devoured the book since its release. — Tess Garcia, Teen Vogue, "Michelle Obama's Memoir "Becoming" Is Already the Best-Selling Hardcover Book of 2018," 1 Dec. 2018 The Delta Fire erupted Wednesday afternoon and within hours had devoured nearly 8 square miles of timber and brush on both sides of Interstate 5 near the Oregon state line. — Fox News, "Trucks abandoned as California wildfire shuts down I-5," 6 Sep. 2018 New lava zones from Kilauea continue to emerge on Hawaii without warning and the flow has already devoured over 500 homes. — Chris Morris, Fortune, "Hawaiian Farmers Brave Lava To Harvest Their Crops," 19 June 2018 What began as a grease fire in a young mother's apartment in the early morning of March 26, was now devouring each unit in its path, creeping across the roofline toward George's apartment. — Leila Atassi, cleveland.com, "Families sleeping on the floor weeks after devastating Garden Valley fire, need your help: A Greater Cleveland," 13 Apr. 2018 The InSight team devours each detail—the camera is showing less than two degrees of tilt, which tells them the lander is sitting nice and flat for its science. — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "How a Small CubeSat Became the Unlikely Hero of the InSight Landing," 29 Nov. 2018 Those larvae then devour the wood, their zig-zag feeding patterns clearly delineated. — Frank Fitzpatrick, Philly.com, "Ashes of an industry: A Pennsylvania tradition is dying, one baseball bat at a time," 14 June 2018 Technology giants are rapidly devouring a media industry that has long been dominated by the same group of entertainment companies — storied Hollywood studios, television networks and cable giants. — David Lazarus, latimes.com, "California Inc.: An 'Incredible' comeback for a Disney/Pixar franchise," 11 June 2018 The wasps hatch, devour the roach inside the egg case and escape by drilling a hole out to freedom. — Rob Dunn, Discover Magazine, "Our Attempts to Eradicate Insects are Just Making them Resistant to Pesticides," 16 Nov. 2018

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.