devour
verb
de·vour
| \ di-ˈvau̇(-ə)r
, dē-\
, dē-\
devoured;
devouring;
devours
Definition of devour
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
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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.
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Recent Examples on the Web
The forest is protected by Indra, being home to his friend Takshaka, and the guardian deity has sent down torrents to foil Agni’s past attempts to devour the Khandava. — Girish Shahane, Quartz India, "The Amazon fires have a 3,000-year-old parallel in the Indian epic Mahabharata," 30 Aug. 2019 While Asian carp were originally imported to the U.S. to devour nuisance algae blooms in sewage treatment facilities and aquaculture ponds, the carp escaped confinement due to flooding and developed a mixed diet in the wild. — Tony Briscoe, chicagotribune.com, "Asian carp have never breached a body of freshwater the size of Lake Michigan. Here’s the bizarre way they could survive and thrive in the world’s fifth largest lake.," 12 Aug. 2019 Most species can open their mouths wide enough to devour prey whole, using their fangs not only as daggers but as bars of a cage. — William J. Broad, New York Times, "The Creepy Anglerfish Comes to Light. (Just Don’t Get Too Close.)," 29 July 2019 But they have been hit by cars, clipped by bulky delivery trucks, strangled by drought, devoured by pests and poisoned by toxic waste from canines and others. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Whodunit? Case of the missing downtown San Diego trees," 9 Aug. 2019 Huge numbers of the Olympias in Tomales Bay and San Francisco Bay are being devoured by voracious alien whelk snails, known as Atlantic oyster drills. — Peter Fimrite, SFChronicle.com, "Oysters in peril as warming climate alters the water in their habitats," 8 Aug. 2019 Fisherman raced their boats to recover his body before it could be devoured by fish, beating drums and throwing rice dumplings into the river to distract them. — Kaitlyn Bancroft, The Denver Post, "Dragon Boat Festival brings culture, camaraderie, friendly competition to Denver," 27 July 2019 Fisherman raced their boats to recover his body before it could be devoured by fish, beating drums and throwing rice dumplings into the river to distract them. — Kaitlyn Bancroft, The Know, "Dragon Boat Festival will feature a spicy noodle soup-eating contest this upcoming weekend," 22 July 2019 Quaid’s life went the way of a Shepard script a decade ago, transforming into a self-devouring, hallucinatory version of itself. — Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, "Sam Shepard Saw It All Coming," 11 July 2019These 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.
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More Definitions for devour
devour
verb
English Language Learners Definition of devour
: to quickly eat all of (something) especially in a way that shows that you are very hungry
: to read (something) quickly and with much enthusiasm
: to look at (something) with much enjoyment or enthusiasm
See the full definition for devour in the English Language Learners Dictionary
devour
verb
de·vour
| \ di-ˈvau̇r
\
\
devoured;
devouring
Kids Definition of devour
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.
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