gobble up

Meanings

1. 1phrasetransitiveinformal

   To eat something very quickly and greedily.

   Grammar: Takes an object: gobble up your dinner. Can be separated: gobble your dinner up.

   Patterns

   • gobble up something
   • gobble something up

   The children gobbled up all the cookies in minutes.

   He gobbled up his lunch and ran back to work.

2. 2phrasetransitiveinformal

   To use or take something very quickly, especially money or resources.

   Grammar: Takes an object: gobble up resources. Often used in passive: be gobbled up.

   Patterns

   • gobble up something
   • gobble something up

   The new project gobbled up most of our budget.

   Rent gobbles up half of my salary.

3. 3phrasetransitivebusinessinformal

   To take over a smaller company or business very quickly.

   Grammar: Takes an object: gobble up a company. Often used in business news.

   Patterns

   • gobble up something
   • gobble something up

   The large corporation gobbled up several small startups.

   Local shops are being gobbled up by big chains.

Word forms

Common combinations

gobble up food

The dog gobbled up the food before we could stop it.

gobble up resources

The war gobbled up the country's resources.

gobble up profits

Taxes gobbled up all our profits.

gobble up a company

The tech giant gobbled up a small AI company.

Synonyms and how they differ

devour

More formal and often used for animals or in literary contexts; 'gobble up' is more informal and emphasizes speed and greed.

swallow

Focuses on the action of making food go down your throat; 'gobble up' emphasizes eating quickly and completely.

Word family

gobble verb

To eat quickly; often used with 'up' but can stand alone: 'He gobbled his food.'

Commonly confused: gobble up or goblin?

Practice

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