Meaning & use
devour
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To eat something very fast because you are extremely hungry.
Grammar: Takes an object: devour a sandwich.
Patterns
- devour something
The hikers devoured the sandwiches in minutes.
The puppy devoured its dinner and begged for more.
He devoured three plates of pasta.
verbtransitivefigurative
To read, watch or take in something eagerly and quickly.
Grammar: Figurative: used with books, news and information.
Patterns
- devour something
She devoured the whole series in a weekend.
He devours news about his favorite team.
The students devoured every page of the new text.
verbtransitiveliteraryfigurative
To destroy or use up something completely, as fire or hunger might.
Grammar: Often passive: the village was devoured by the flames.
Patterns
- be devoured by something
Flames devoured the old barn in minutes.
The costs devoured their savings.
He was devoured by guilt.
Word forms
| third person singular | devours |
|---|---|
| past tense | devoured |
| past participle | devoured |
| -ing form | devouring |
Common combinations
- devour a book
- She can devour a book in one evening.
- devour greedily
- The wolves devoured the meal greedily.
- devoured by flames
- The cabin was devoured by flames.
- devour information
- He devours information about space.
- devour hungrily
- The boys devoured the pizza hungrily.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gobble
- Gobble is informal and suggests eating noisily and fast, while devour sounds more intense and can be used of reading.
- wolf down
- Wolf down is a casual phrasal verb for eating very fast, with no use for books.
- consume
- Consume is neutral and formal, so it lacks the hungry eagerness of devour.
- scoff
- Scoff is British informal for eating greedily, and it is lighter in tone than devour.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: devour or devote?
devour vs devote
Devote means to give time or effort to something, while devour means to eat or take in eagerly.
Practice
Which sentence uses devour in a figurative way?
Choose one answer.
Devouring a novel means reading it eagerly, which is figurative. The other sentences describe literally eating.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “devour”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.