Meanings
present singular third person devours · participle present devouring · participle past devoured · past devoured
- transitiveTo eat quickly, greedily, hungrily, or ravenously.
Once constituted, capital reproduces itself faster than output increases. The past devours the future.
2017 [2013], Thomas Piketty, translated by Arthur Goldhammer, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Belknap Press, →ISBN, page 571 - idiomatictransitiveTo rapidly destroy, engulf, or lay waste.
The fire was devouring the building.
2 more examples
If ye refuse[…]ye shall be devoured with the sword.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 1:20Blast after blast, fiery outbreak after fiery outbreak, like a flaming barrage from within,[…]most of Edison's grounds soon became an inferno. As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities.
2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion - idiomatictransitiveTo take in avidly with the intellect or with one's gaze.
She intended to devour the book.
2 more examples
Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy—[…]—distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its flavor.
1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter I (Anarchy), page 373, column 2My dreams were largely based on the works of Dickens (his Mugby Junction stories), Thackeray (Jeames on the Gauge Question), and Arthur Conan Doyle, whose Sherlock Holmes stories I kept devouring with gluttonous abandon.
2026 April 1, Vitali Vitaliev, “Literature on the track”, in RAIL, number 1058, page 68 - idiomatictransitiveTo absorb or engross the mind fully, especially in a destructive manner.
After the death of his wife, he was devoured by grief.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo absorb or engross the mind fully, especially in a destructive manner.
verbSynonym of eat: to be very good at something; to slay.
More synonyms by meaning
verbeat up completely, as with great appetite
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindēvorō
- Old Frenchdevorer
- Middle Englishdevouren
- Englishdevour
Inherited from Middle English devouren, from Old French devorer (Modern French dévorer), from Latin dēvorō, from vorō.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek λαφύσσω, δάπτω
- λαφύσσω (laphússō)to eat greedily
- δάπτω (dáptō)to eat greedily
- δαρδάπτω (dardáptō)to eat greedily
Arabic اِلْتَهَمَ
- اِلْتَهَمَ (iltahama)to eat greedily
Bulgarian поглъщам, ям лакомо
- поглъщам (poglăštam)to eat greedily
- ям лакомо (jam lakomo)to eat greedily
Catalan devorar
- devorarto eat greedily
Czech hltat, zhltnout
- hltatto eat greedily
- zhltnoutto eat greedily
- pohltitto rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- zhltatto take in avidly
- pohltitto absorb or engross the mind fully
Danish sluge
- slugeto eat greedily
Dutch verslinden, schransen
- verslindento eat greedily
- schransento eat greedily
- vretento eat greedily
Esperanto manĝegi, vori
- manĝegito eat greedily
- vorito eat greedily
Estonian õgima
- õgimato eat greedily
Finnish ahmia
- ahmiato eat greedily
French dévorer, dévorer
- dévorerto eat greedily
- dévorerto rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- dévorerto take in avidly
German verschlingen, fressen
- verschlingento eat greedily
- fressento eat greedily
- schlingento eat greedily
- herunterschlingento eat greedily
- zerstörento rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- vernichtento rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- verschlingento rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- verschlingento take in avidly
- besessen sein vonto absorb or engross the mind fully
- eingenommen sein vonto absorb or engross the mind fully
Greek καταβροχθίζω
- καταβροχθίζω (katavrochthízo)to eat greedily
Hebrew טָרַף
- טָרַף (taráf)to eat greedily
Hungarian fal, zabál
- falto eat greedily
- zabálto eat greedily
Irish plac
- placto eat greedily
Italian divorare, trangugiare
- divorareto eat greedily
- trangugiareto eat greedily
- ingurgitareto eat greedily
- ingozzarsito eat greedily
- affogarsito eat greedily
- divorareto rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- consumareto rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- divorareto take in avidly
- ingurgitareto take in avidly
- trangugiareto take in avidly
- incamerareto take in avidly
- assorbireto take in avidly
Japanese 貪る
- 貪る (musaboru)to eat greedily
Latin vorō, peredō
- vorōto eat greedily
- peredōto eat greedily
Māori whāō, horomiti
- whāōto eat greedily
- horomitito eat greedily
- ngūngūto eat greedily
Norwegian Bokmål sluke
- sluketo eat greedily
Persian لمباندن, طعمه حریق شدن
- لمباندن (lombândan)to eat greedily
- طعمه حریق شدن (to'me-ye hariq šodan)to rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- قورت دادن (qurt dâdan)to take in avidly
- غرق شدن (ġarq šodan)to absorb or engross the mind fully
- غوطهور شدن (ġute-var šodan)to absorb or engross the mind fully
Polish pałaszować, spałaszować
- pałaszowaćto eat greedily
- spałaszowaćto eat greedily
- pożeraćto eat greedily
- pożrećto eat greedily
- pochłaniaćto rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- pochłonąćto rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- pustoszyćto rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- spustoszyćto rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
- chłonąćto take in avidly
- chłonąćto absorb or engross the mind fully
Portuguese devorar
- devorarto eat greedily
Romanian devora
- devorato eat greedily
Russian жрать, лопать
- жрать (žratʹ)to eat greedily
- лопать (lopatʹ)to eat greedily
Spanish devorar, jambar
- devorarto eat greedily
- jambarto eat greedily
- devorarto rapidly destroy, engulf or lay waste
Swedish sluka
- slukato eat greedily
Thai เขมือบ
- เขมือบ (kà-mʉ̀ʉap)to eat greedily
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with devour
Cite this entry
devour. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/devour
“devour.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/devour. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “devour,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/devour.
Source: devour on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.