devour
Americanverb (used with object)
-
devours,
present (3rd person singular)
-
devoured,
past participle, past
-
devouring
present participle
-
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.
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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
devourernoun
-
devouringnessnoun
-
interdevourverb (used with object)
-
predevourverb (used with object)
-
redevourverb (used with object)
-
devouringadjective
-
self-devouringadjective
-
undevouredadjective
-
devouringlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
devoursimple
-
devourssimple
-
have devouredperfect
-
has devouredperfect
-
am devouringprogressive
-
are devouringprogressive
-
is devouringprogressive
-
have been devouringperfect progressive
-
has been devouringperfect progressive
Past
-
devouredsimple
-
had devouredperfect
-
was devouringprogressive
-
were devouringprogressive
-
had been devouringperfect progressive
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."
Vocabulary lists containing devour
Eat Your Words
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 7–11
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Unit 1: Telling Details
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
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
Fans could sip on BTS chocolate lattes or devour BTS kimchi-and-beef burritos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
When I see my girlfriend devour books faster than the popcorn she keeps within arm’s reach, I feel guilty — and envious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2026
Couldn’t wait to get back to the house and devour it.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
In India's tech capital Bengaluru, the morning "rush hour" lasts so long it devours half the workday, throttling productivity in a city often viewed as the poster child of a booming economy.
From Barron's ● Nov. 27, 2025
That hot, hard rock devours conventional drill bits and makes a hash of the concrete usually poured deep underground around the steel pipes required to line such a well and keep it from collapsing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
In the show, rare glimpses of his inner turmoil come when he devours a lemon tart or a chocolate bar with a pleasureless intensity.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
With each strike, he devours the essence of liberty and justice, leaving behind a trail of desolation and despair.
From Salon ● May 8, 2024
He devours a spoonful and says, “You’re weird.”
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
Some 10,500 people were being evacuated from their homes near the city of Perpignan in southwestern France as firefighters tried to control a blaze that has devoured 1,650 hectares, authorities said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
"Books devoured me, they ate me," she said.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
The raven and a “silent partner” then snatched the helpless goslings and devoured them—a machination to make Poe proud.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
It arrived at the peak of unscripted television’s popularity — a period when audiences devoured shows like “Survivor” and “American Idol” at their regularly scheduled times on television.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
She was reduced to eating the pumpkin leaves when every one of the new vegetables was devoured by beetles.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Scavenger animals such as possums, red foxes and crows can be exposed to the virus while devouring the carcasses of infected birds.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
The beds and food bowls are gone; the floor where they always left messes after devouring the grub I made them is eerily clean.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Strong winds and a tinder-dry landscape meant that the fire advanced at frightening speed, devouring large amounts of territory in very little time.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
She never finished high school, but compensated for her incomplete education by devouring books and absorbing ideas.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
Though I believe Pearl Harbor itself would have passed by them tonight, intent as they were on devouring the manioc.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
