devour
Americanverb (used with object)
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to swallow or eat up hungrily, voraciously, or ravenously.
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to consume destructively, recklessly, or wantonly.
Fire devoured the old museum.
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to engulf or swallow up.
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to take in greedily with the senses or intellect.
to devour the works of Freud.
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to absorb or engross wholly.
a mind devoured by fears.
verb
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to swallow or eat up greedily or voraciously
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to waste or destroy; consume
the flames devoured the curtains
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to consume greedily or avidly with the senses or mind
he devoured the manuscripts
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to engulf or absorb
the flood devoured the land
Other Word Forms
- devourer noun
- devouring adjective
- devouringly adverb
- devouringness noun
- interdevour verb (used with object)
- predevour verb (used with object)
- redevour verb (used with object)
- self-devouring adjective
- undevoured adjective
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”
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.
Postsurgery, she began to devour several novels a week—but only about romance.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026
Tech is having a tough week, with fresh fears AI is going to devour software and now Alphabet’s eye-popping capital spending plans to absorb.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026
A data center for AI training can devour as much electricity as 1,000 Walmart stores, while an AI search can use 10 times the amount of energy as a google search.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
Several years ago, a smaller black bear broke into a Nestlé cookie shop to devour ice cream, Murin said.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2025
She must travel in it easily or her own heart would devour her and she would not endure the war unwounded, as she still hoped to do.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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.
