devouring 1 of 2

adjective

as in gobbling

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devouring

2 of 2

verb

present participle of devour
1
as in consuming
to destroy all trace of a series of devastating storms devoured the beach on the south side of the island

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in spending
to make complete use of a catastrophic medical event that devoured their savings

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in inhaling
to swallow or eat greedily the starving villagers simply devoured the relief food

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of devouring
Adjective
That wall of water roared downstream, smashing and devouring. — Karen Valby, Vanity Fair, 16 June 2026 Family drama fueled by Dorothy's world-devouring, man-eating antics aside, Scarpetta is also aiming to separate itself from the competition by leveraging a unique narrative structure that essentially adapts two of Cornwell's books in a single season. — Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Mar. 2026
Verb
Just like today’s tentacled ocean dwellers, the Mesozoic squid ancestor likely had no problem devouring its relatives—or even members of its own species. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 10 Sep. 2026 Davis loved to read and collect books, devouring anything from John Updike and Margaret Atwood, among other authors, a passion that necessitated having bookshelves in every room of his home. — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026 Raised in a working-class family in the English county of Essex, Jordan was a dedicated reader, who grew up devouring books by Jacqueline Wilson and Malorie Blackman. — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 27 Aug. 2026 The Milky Way has something of a torrid and violent history, given that our galaxy has fueled its own growth by cannibalistically devouring smaller galaxies. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 24 Aug. 2026 Observers were treated to the gruesome sight of ravens hacking open unattended eggs and devouring the contents. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2026 Even fussy kids were devouring their slices and were largely eating their crusts. — Laura Ness, Mercury News, 16 Aug. 2026 Sainsbury was inspired to create the podcast after devouring hit true crime pods like Serial, The Teacher’s Pet and Amanda Knox’s Blood Money and realizing there was a clear parody angle. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026 The cave was used to film scenes with Polyphemus, the Cyclops who traps Odysseus and his crew in his cave before devouring several of the men. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 9 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for devouring
  1. insatiable
  2. consuming
  3. spending
  4. inhaling
  5. draining
  6. gulping
  7. exhausting
  8. cramming
Adjective
  • Businesses have insatiable demand for AI acceleration, and boards and CEOs are pushing aggressively for productivity improvements tied to these new capabilities.
    — Drew Naukam, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Radiation, heat and space traffic Google is just one of several companies that have proposed sending data centers to space as the race to produce ever more sophisticated machine learning has created an insatiable demand for computing power.
    — Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of insatiable
Verb
  • That means an e-reader can display a page for hours while consuming essentially no display power between updates.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Parents and other adults can also model good behavior by not consuming energy drinks in front of kids.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of consuming
Verb
  • In the employer market, more recent data suggest the volumes of prescriptions — which are proprietary — are driving up spending more than prices, although prices are still a factor.
    — Bob Herman, STAT, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Born and raised in Flushing, Queens, to a Chinese family, Liu developed an early interest in beauty, recalling spending hours painting her nails after school.
    — Ryma Chikhoune, Footwear News, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of spending
Verb
  • But some people abuse it by inhaling it to feel relaxed or euphoric.
    — Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Tottenham attempted to offload Bissouma last summer, and the club later initiated another internal investigation after an image leaked of Bissouma inhaling nitrous oxide from a balloon again.
    — Colin Millar, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of inhaling
Verb
  • This severe segmentation can be emotionally draining and erodes commitment to the organization.
    — Catherine Bell, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Teams devised an unprecedented bit of spaceship surgery to replace the valve without draining the propellant and disassembling the spacecraft, steps that would have triggered a much longer delay.
    — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of draining
Verb
  • Others can’t stand the sound of gulping.
    — Sloane Crosley, New Yorker, 8 June 2026
  • This viral anti-slip slow feeder lick bowl helps prevent gulping and bloating, while keeping your dogs entertained for longer with a healthy, fun challenge.
    — Kasey Caminiti, USA Today, 25 May 2026
Definition of gulping
Verb
  • The gentle squeeze around your legs provides other surprising health benefits on exhausting travel days.
    — Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Commanders should seek positional advantages without exhausting their soldiers, manipulate the enemy’s movements when possible, and recognize when circumstances make pursuit or attack unwise.
    — Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of exhausting
Verb
  • The same push toward cramming AI into every corner is also happening on Windows 11, where Microsoft Copilot promises to be helpful.
    — Adam Clark Estes, Vox, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The common thread among them is many, many hours spent cramming parenting and their careers into each day.
    — Tilly Berendt, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of cramming

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devouring
devours
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Cite this Entry

“Devouring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/devouring. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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