Synonyms

devour

American

[dih-vou-^uhr, -vou-er] / dɪˈvaʊ ər, -ˈvaʊ ər /

verb (used with object)

to swallow or eat up hungrily, voraciously, or ravenously.
to consume destructively, recklessly, or wantonly.

Fire devoured the old museum.
to engulf or swallow up.
to take in greedily with the senses or intellect.

to devour the works of Freud.
to absorb or engross wholly.

a mind devoured by fears.

devour British

/ dɪˈvaʊə /

verb

to swallow or eat up greedily or voraciously
to waste or destroy; consume

the flames devoured the curtains
to consume greedily or avidly with the senses or mind

he devoured the manuscripts
to engulf or absorb

the flood devoured the land

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Etymology

Origin of devour

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English devouren, from Anglo-French, Old French devourer, from Latin dēvorāre “to swallow down,” from dē- de- + vorāre “to eat up”

Explanation

When you've gone all day without eating anything, you'll probably devour your dinner, especially if it's your very favorite homemade lasagna. Devour means to eat greedily and hungrily. The meaning of devour has grown to include the consumption of things other than food. If you sit down to start a book and look up ten hours later having turned the last page, you have devoured that book. If your after school job devours all your free time, chances are your grades are going to drop. The Latin root, devorare, means "to swallow down."

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Vocabulary lists containing devour

Eat Your Words

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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 7–11

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Unit 1: Telling Details

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For him and his family, this is a rare chance to devour durians "of good quality, and sometimes at nearly half the price of previous seasons".

From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026

The group stage would be a series of blowouts, the sharks would devour the minnows.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2026

In this whirlwind of a year, amid the tariffs of Liberation Day and other Supreme Court arguments, I carved out a precious block of time to devour Akhil Reed Amar’s latest masterpiece, “Born Equal.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

They diligently tune in to earnings calls and company filings, and devour every piece of content featuring Chief Executive Alex Karp.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 25, 2025

Woo reaches down, snatches a couple of plantains, and flips back onto the top of the tent to devour his newly acquired treats.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023