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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

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.

Devour them as I did and you, too, will earn an honorary baccalaureate in some of childhood’s most enduring topics.

From New York Times • Sep. 14, 2022

The Devour Tastes and Traditions Tour was designed to allow you to both taste the traditional food of Portugal and learn more about the history, cultures, and traditions, of course.

From Salon • Jul. 24, 2022

Ultimately, Devour released a more saucy version of its ad online and one that was deemed appropriate for television.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 3, 2019

But the backlash may well be worth it, as the Devour Foods “uncensored” ad has already been viewed over 8 million times on YouTube — more than any other published commercial before the big game.

From Fox News • Jan. 29, 2019

But he tumbled out of the quicket as it were, and came to me with short leaps, making as though he would Devour me.

From The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 1 Who was a sailor, a soldier, a merchant, a spy, a slave among the moors... by Sala, George Augustus

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