Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To eat up greedily. synonym: eat.
- transitive verb To destroy, consume, or waste.
- transitive verb To take in eagerly.
- transitive verb To preoccupy or obsess in a harmful way.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See
dever . - To eat up entirely; eat ravenously; consume as food.
- To consume destructively, recklessly, or wantonly; make away with; destroy; waste.
- To swallow up, literally or figuratively; draw into conjunction or possession; absorb; engorge; take in: as, to
devour a book; the usurers have devoured his estate. - To gaze at absorbingly; look upon with avidity; view with delight.
- To give delight to; charm; enchant.
- Synonyms Consume, etc. See
eat . - To consume.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To eat up with greediness; to consume ravenously; to feast upon like a wild beast or a glutton; to prey upon.
- transitive verb To seize upon and destroy or appropriate greedily, selfishly, or wantonly; to consume; to swallow up; to use up; to waste; to annihilate.
- transitive verb To enjoy with avidity; to appropriate or take in eagerly by the senses.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To eat quickly,
greedily ,hungrily , orravenously . - verb To rapidly
destroy ,engulf , orlay waste . - verb To take in
avidly with the intellect. - verb To
absorb orengross the mind fully, especially in adestructive manner.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb eat greedily
- verb destroy completely
- verb enjoy avidly
- verb eat immoderately
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The word devour had gained a fresh resonance for me.
The Skrayling Tree Moorcock, Michael, 1939- 2003
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Lord shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721
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I should yearn to read His Word and devour it any opportunity I get.
Babes with a Beatitude Linda P. Kozar 2009
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Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?
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Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?
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Then Abner called to Jo'ab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?
2 Samuel 2. 1999
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Do you really think that before I found you, I was going about the world seeking whom I might devour, that is, be devoured by, in the shape of a wife ... do you suppose I ever dreamed of marrying?
The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett Browning, Robert, 1812-1889 1898
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Do you really think that before I found you, I was going about the world seeking whom I might devour, that is, be devoured by, in the shape of a wife ... do you suppose I ever dreamed of marrying?
The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1 (of 2) 1845-1846 Robert Browning 1850
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It is a most ill-natured thing, and the bane of friendship, to retain the resentment of affronts and injuries, and to let that word devour for ever.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume I (Genesis to Deuteronomy) 1721
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They let their sword devour for ever, not considering that it would be bitterness in the latter end, as Abner pleads long after, when he was at the head of an army of Benjamites, probably with an eye to this very story, 2 Sam. ii.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume II (Joshua to Esther) 1721
bilby commented on the word devour
there is a dragon
devouring rocks and men
causing insanity
destroying peaceful lives
and calling itself love
- Rumi, ghazal number 2157 in 'Fountain of Fire', translated by Nader Khalili.
October 26, 2008