gobble

play

verb gob·ble \ ˈgä-bəl \

Updated on: 11 Sep 2017

Definition of gobble

gobbled; gobbling play \ˈgä-b(ə-)liŋ\

transitive verb

1 :to swallow or eat greedily

2 :to take eagerly :grab —usually used with up

3 :to read rapidly or greedily —usually used with up

Recent Examples of gobble from the Web

Their decline began a century ago with the introduction of non-native trout for sport fishing that gobbled up the tadpoles.

— scott smith, The Seattle Times, "Inoculations give endangered California frog a shot at life," 30 Aug. 2017
Their decline began a century ago with the introduction of non-native trout for sport fishing that gobbled up the tadpoles.

— Washington Post, "Inoculations give endangered California frog a shot at life," 30 Aug. 2017
In a 9-year-old car that may still have been bent from a crash three weeks ago at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Clements drove the race of his lifetime, gobbling up Matt Tifft’s eight-second lead in five laps.

— dave kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Jeremy Clements perseveres for first NASCAR win at Road America," 27 Aug. 2017
As its name implies, the Sandplain agalinis is found only on generally flat, grassy land with sandy soil — exactly the sort of land in southern New England that has been gobbled up by shoreline housing developments and airports.

— gregory b. hladky, courant.com, "Connecticut's Rare Plants At Risk Of Vanishing From Landscape," 22 Aug. 2017
The campers ran and waited as the bear gobbled up their dinner and scrambled away with one of their backpacks.

— emily e. smith, Smithsonian, "The Deadly Grizzly Bear Attacks That Changed the National Park Service Forever," 10 Aug. 2017
The rookie end tried to turn the corner on tackle Matt Tobin, but Tobin gobbled him up and shoved him to his knees.

— jeff mclane, Philly.com, "Eagles Practice Observations: The Wentz accuracy train; C.J. Smith moving up; Elijah Smalls down," 29 July 2017
Yet, this egalitarian focus on wide-ranging problems doesn’t seem to translate into the wider investing landscape, in which streaming services have gobbled up more than 75 percent of music-tech funding.

— cherie hu, Billboard, "Music Pushes to Innovate Beyond Streaming, But Investors Play It Safe: Analysis," 24 July 2017
Private firms are much more productive, but state firms gobble up a disproportionate share of resources.

— The Economist, "Reform of China’s ailing state-owned firms is emboldening them," 20 July 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of gobble

probably irregular from ¹gob

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1583

See Words from the same year

gobble

verb

Definition of gobble

gobbled; gobbling play \ˈgä-b(ə-)liŋ\

intransitive verb

1 :to make the natural guttural noise of a male turkey

2 :to make a sound resembling the gobble of a turkey

—

gobble

noun

Recent Examples of gobble from the Web

Their decline began a century ago with the introduction of non-native trout for sport fishing that gobbled up the tadpoles.

— scott smith, The Seattle Times, "Inoculations give endangered California frog a shot at life," 30 Aug. 2017
Their decline began a century ago with the introduction of non-native trout for sport fishing that gobbled up the tadpoles.

— Washington Post, "Inoculations give endangered California frog a shot at life," 30 Aug. 2017
In a 9-year-old car that may still have been bent from a crash three weeks ago at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Clements drove the race of his lifetime, gobbling up Matt Tifft’s eight-second lead in five laps.

— dave kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Jeremy Clements perseveres for first NASCAR win at Road America," 27 Aug. 2017
As its name implies, the Sandplain agalinis is found only on generally flat, grassy land with sandy soil — exactly the sort of land in southern New England that has been gobbled up by shoreline housing developments and airports.

— gregory b. hladky, courant.com, "Connecticut's Rare Plants At Risk Of Vanishing From Landscape," 22 Aug. 2017
The campers ran and waited as the bear gobbled up their dinner and scrambled away with one of their backpacks.

— emily e. smith, Smithsonian, "The Deadly Grizzly Bear Attacks That Changed the National Park Service Forever," 10 Aug. 2017
The rookie end tried to turn the corner on tackle Matt Tobin, but Tobin gobbled him up and shoved him to his knees.

— jeff mclane, Philly.com, "Eagles Practice Observations: The Wentz accuracy train; C.J. Smith moving up; Elijah Smalls down," 29 July 2017
Yet, this egalitarian focus on wide-ranging problems doesn’t seem to translate into the wider investing landscape, in which streaming services have gobbled up more than 75 percent of music-tech funding.

— cherie hu, Billboard, "Music Pushes to Innovate Beyond Streaming, But Investors Play It Safe: Analysis," 24 July 2017
Private firms are much more productive, but state firms gobble up a disproportionate share of resources.

— The Economist, "Reform of China’s ailing state-owned firms is emboldening them," 20 July 2017

Origin and Etymology of gobble

imitative

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1680

See Words from the same year

GOBBLE Defined for Kids

gobble

play

verb gob·ble \ ˈgä-bəl \

Definition of gobble for Students

gobbled; gobbling

:to eat fast or greedily

We gobbled up our lunch.

gobble

verb

Definition of gobble for Students

gobbled; gobbling

:to make the call of a turkey or a similar sound

gobble

noun

Definition of gobble for Students

:the loud harsh call of a turkey

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See words that rhyme with gobble Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for gobble Spanish Central: Translation of gobble Nglish: Translation of gobble for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of gobble for Arabic speakers

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