devour

English

Etymology

InheritedfromMiddle Englishdevouren,fromOld Frenchdevorer(Modern Frenchdévorer), fromLatindēvorō,fromvorō.

Pronunciation

• (UK)IPA^(key):/dɪˈvaʊə(ɹ)/
• (US)IPA^(key):/dɪˈvaʊɚ/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-aʊə(ɹ)
• Rhymes:-aʊ.ə(ɹ)

Verb

devour(third-person singular simple presentdevours,present participledevouring,simple past and past participledevoured)

1. To eat quickly,greedily,hungrily,orravenously.

   Synonyms:gobble,gorge,wolf

   • 2017[2013],Thomas Piketty,translated by Arthur Goldhammer,Capital in the Twenty-First Century,Belknap Press,→ISBN,page571:

     Once constituted, capital reproduces itself faster than output increases. The pastdevoursthe future.

2. To rapidlydestroy,engulf,orlay waste.

   Synonyms:consume,devastate,overwhelm

   The fire wasdevouringthe building.

   • 1611,The Holy Bible,[…](King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker,[…],→OCLC,Isaiah1:20:

     If ye refuse[…]ye shall bedevouredwith the sword.

   • 2006,Edwin Black,chapter 1, inInternal Combustion:

     Blast after blast, fiery outbreak after fiery outbreak, like a flaming barrage from within,[…]most of Edison's grounds soon became an inferno. As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematicallydevouredthe contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities.

3. To take inavidlywith the intellect or with one's gaze.

   She intended todevourthe book.

   • 1914November,Louis Joseph Vance,“An Outsider[…]”,inMunsey’s Magazine,volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.:The Frank A[ndrew]Munsey Company,[…],published1915,→OCLC,chapter I (Anarchy),page373,column 2:

     Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence. Shedevouredwith more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy—[…]—distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its flavor.

4. Toabsorborengrossthe mind fully, especially in adestructivemanner.

   Synonyms:devastate,overwhelm

   After the death of his wife, he wasdevouredby grief.

5. (originallydragslang,Internetslang)Synonym ofeat:to be verygoodat something; toslay.

   Shedevoured!Sheleft no crumbs!

Derived terms

• devourable
• devourer
• devouringly
• devouringness
• devourment
• interdevour
• undevoured

Related terms

• voracious

Translations

to eat greedily

• Arabic:اِلْتَهَمَ(iltahama)
• Bikol Central:habungal
• Bulgarian:поглъщам(bg)(poglǎštam),ям лакомо(jam lakomo)
• Catalan:devorar(ca)
• Cornish:devorya
• Czech:hltat,zhltnout(cs)pf
• Danish:grovæde
• Dutch:verslinden(nl),schransen(nl),vreten(nl)
• Esperanto:manĝegi,vori(eo)
• Estonian:õgima
• Finnish:ahmia(fi)
• French:dévorer(fr)
• German:verschlingen(de),fressen(de),schlingen(de),herunterschlingen
• Greek:καταβροχθίζω(el)(katavrochthízo)

  Ancient:λαφύσσω(laphússō),δάπτω(dáptō),δαρδάπτω(dardáptō)

• Hebrew:טָרַף(he)(taráf)
• Hungarian:fal(hu),zabál(hu)
• Ido:devorar(io)
• Italian:divorare(it),trangugiare(it),ingurgitare(it),ingozzarsi(it),affogarsi(it)
• Japanese:Tham る(ja)(むさぼる, musaboru)
• Latin:vorō,peredō
• Maori:whāō,horomiti,ngūngū
• Middle English:freten,devouren
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:sluke

  Nynorsk:sluke

• Occitan:devorar(oc)
• Old English:fretan
• Old Norse:gleypa
• Persian:لمباندن(phát)(lombândan)
• Polish:pożerać(pl)(imperfective),pożreć(pl)(perfective)
• Portuguese:devorar(pt)
• Romanian:devora(ro)
• Russian:жрать(ru)(žratʹ),лопать(ru)(lopatʹ)
• Sanskrit:गिरति(sa)(girati)
• Serbo-Croatian:pròždrijēti(sh)
• Spanish:devorar(es),jambar(es)
• Swedish:sluka(sv)
• Telugu:తినేయు(tinēyu)
• Tocharian B:śu-

to rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste

• Czech:pohltitpf
• French:dévorer(fr)
• German:zerstören(de),vernichten(de),verschlingen(de)
• Italian:divorare(it),consumare(it)
• Middle English:freten,devouren
• Persian:طعمه حریق شدن(to'me-ye hariq šodan)(by fire)
• Spanish:devorar(es)

to take in avidly

• Czech:zhltatpf
• French:dévorer(fr)
• German:verschlingen(de)
• Italian:divorare(it),ingurgitare(it),trangugiare(it),incamerare(it),assorbire(it),memorizzare(it)
• Persian:قورت دادن(phát)(qurt dâdan)(informal)

to absorb or engross the mind fully

• Czech:pohltitpf
• German:besessen sein von,eingenommen sein von
• Italian:divorare(it),consumare(it),assorbire(it),riempire(it)
• Persian:غرق شدن(phát)(ğarq šodan),غوطهور شدن(ğute-var šodan)