gobble
1 Americanverb (used without object)
noun
noun
interjection
verb
verb
-
to eat or swallow (food) hastily and in large mouthfuls
-
informal to snatch
Etymology
Origin of gobble1
1595–1605; probably imitative; see gob 1, -le
Origin of gobble2
First recorded in 1670–80; variant of gabble
Explanation
To gobble is to eat quickly — really quickly. When you gobble your dinner, you hardly even chew your food. You’ve probably been told that gobbling your food is impolite. However, maybe you can get away with it if you impress your dining companions with some interesting facts about this word’s history. Gobble comes from an Old French word meaning “a mouthful” or “a lump.” It’s related to gob, a slang term for “mouth” in the UK.
Vocabulary lists containing gobble
"When Cultures Meet"
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Crenshaw
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The Circuit
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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.
We’ll tackle the elevated costs of food, energy, medicine and other necessities that gobble up middle-income wages.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026
Power plants that had been slated for closure have been pressed into longer service while new ones come online as tech giants gobble up gigawatts of capacity.
From Barron's • Oct. 16, 2025
Now, he’s become known for his big personality, his hands-on approach in molding Milwaukee’s brand of baseball … and more lighthearted habits, like the “pocket pancakes” he’ll gobble up in the middle of games.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2025
Predators destroy an estimated 25 million birds, chicks, and eggs a year, while 30 million possums gobble up 21,000 tons of vegetation a night, depleting the food supply for native animals.
From Slate • Aug. 8, 2025
What was happier than seeing everybody gobble down the shiny mushrooms and bamboo shoots I had helped to prepare that day?
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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.
