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devour

 - 3 dictionary results

de⋅vour

  [di-vour]
Use devour in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to swallow or eat up hungrily, voraciously, or ravenously.
2. to consume destructively, recklessly, or wantonly: Fire devoured the old museum.
3. to engulf or swallow up.
4. to take in greedily with the senses or intellect: to devour the works of Freud.
5. to absorb or engross wholly: a mind devoured by fears.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME devouren < AF, OF devourer < L dēvorāre to swallow down, equiv. to dē- de- + vorāre to eat up

Related forms:
de⋅vour⋅er, noun
de⋅vour⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
de⋅vour⋅ing⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To devour
de·vour   (dĭ-vour')   
tr.v.   de·voured, de·vour·ing, de·vours

  1. To eat up greedily. See Synonyms at eat.

  2. To destroy, consume, or waste: Flames devoured the structure in minutes.

  3. To take in eagerly: devour a novel.

  4. To prey upon voraciously: was devoured by jealousy.


[Middle English devouren, from Old French devourer, from Latin dēvorāre : dē-, de- + vorāre, to swallow.]
de·vour'er n., de·vour'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

devour 
c.1315, from O.Fr. devorer, from L. devorare "swallow down," from de- "down" + vorare "swallow."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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