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voracious - 4 dictionary results

vo⋅ra⋅cious

  [vaw-rey-shuhs, voh-, vuh-]
Use voracious in a Sentence
–adjective
1. craving or consuming large quantities of food: a voracious appetite.
2. exceedingly eager or avid: voracious readers; a voracious collector.
Origin:
1625–35; voraci(ty) + -ous

Related forms:
vo⋅ra⋅cious⋅ly, adverb
vo⋅ra⋅cious⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. See ravenous. 2. rapacious, insatiable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To voracious
vo·ra·cious   (vô-rā'shəs, və-)   
adj.  
  1. Consuming or eager to consume great amounts of food; ravenous.
  2. Having or marked by an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit; greedy: a voracious reader.

[From Latin vorāx, vorāc-, from vorāre, to swallow, devour.]
vo·ra'cious·ly adv., vo·rac'i·ty (-rās'ĭ-tē), vo·ra'cious·ness (-rā'shəs-nĭs) n.
Synonyms: These adjectives mean having or marked by boundless greed: a voracious reader of history; a gluttonous consumer of fine foods; a rapacious acquirer of competing businesses; a politician ravenous for power.
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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Voracious

Vo*ra"cious\, a. [L. vorax, -acis, fr. vorare to devour; akin to Gr. ? meat, food, ? to devour, Skr. gar. Cf. Devour.] Greedy in eating; very hungry; eager to devour or swallow; ravenous; gluttonous; edacious; rapacious; as, a voracious man or appetite; a voracious gulf or whirlpool. --Dampier. -- Vo*ra"cious*ly, adv. -- Vo*ra"cious*ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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voracious 
1635, formed as an adj. form of voracity (1526), from M.Fr. voracité, from L. voracitatem (nom. voracitas) "greediness, ravenousness," from vorax (gen. voracis) "greedy," from vorare "to devour," from PIE base *gwer- "to swallow, devour" (cf. Skt. girati "he swallows," garah "drink;" Gk. bora "food;" Lith. geriu "to drink;" O.C.S. ziro "to swallow," grulo "gullet").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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