devour
/dɪˈvaʊɚ/ verb C1- To eat quickly, greedily, hungrily, or ravenously.
- To rapidly destroy, engulf, or lay waste. · The fire was devouring the building.
- To take in avidly with the intellect or with one's gaze. · She intended to devour the book.
- To absorb or engross the mind fully, especially in a destructive manner. · After the death of his wife, he was devoured by grief.
- Synonym of eat: to be very good at something; to slay. · She devoured! She left no crumbs!
He/she/it devours · Past devoured · Past participle devoured · -ing form devouring
Verb forms
- Base form
- devour
- He/she/it
- devours
- Past
- devoured
- Past participle
- devoured
- -ing form
- devouring
From the library
The beasts expressed their sorrow, and came one by one to his den, where the Lion devoured them.
The Lion, bursting out into a great rage, devoured the Ass.
The swing of his nature took him from extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his black-letter editions.
They had analyzed and parsed it and torn it to pieces in general until it was a wonder there was any meaning at all left in it for them, but at least the fair lily maid and Lancelot and Guinevere and King Arthur had become very real people to them, and Anne was devoured by secret regret that she had not been born in Camelot.
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