gobble

¹ American  

[gob-uhl] / ˈgɒb əl /

verb (used with object)

gobbled, gobbling

1. to swallow or eat hastily or hungrily in large pieces; gulp.

   Synonyms:

   devour, bolt

2. to seize upon eagerly (often followed byup ).

   After being gone for so long, they gobbled up all the local news.

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verb (used without object)

gobbled, gobbling

1. to eat hastily.

gobble ² American  

[gob-uhl] / ˈgɒb əl /

verb (used without object)

gobbled, gobbling

1. to make the characteristic throaty cry of a male turkey.

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noun

1. the cry itself.

gobble ¹ British  

/ ˈɡɒbəl /

noun

1. the loud rapid gurgling sound made by male turkeys

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interjection

1. an imitation of this sound

verb

1. (intr) (of a turkey) to make this sound

gobble ² British  

/ ˈɡɒbəl /

verb

1. to eat or swallow (food) hastily and in large mouthfuls

2. informal to snatch

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Etymology

Origin of gobble¹

1595–1605; probably imitative; gob ¹, -le

Origin of gobble²

First recorded in 1670–80; variant of gabble

Example Sentences

While Pa ate his lunch, I grabbed my sandwich and gobbled it down on the way to Jeb’s house.

From Literature

I want to make fire! thought Tiamat, as she started to gobble the livers.

From Literature

And then she dabbed some whipped cream on the tip of the boy’s nose, and he did the same to her, and they laughed and gobbled everything up.

From Literature

As we chugged and gobbled in disbelief at the abundance, Uncle Jack asked if any of us wanted to become footballers in the future.

From Literature

AI companies are gobbling up capacity at suppliers where Apple has long been the biggest buyer.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• devour
• gulp
• guzzle
• swallow