Devour

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Devour \De*vour"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Devoured}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Devouring}.] [F. d['e]vorer, fr. L. devorare; de + vorare
     to eat greedily, swallow up. See {Voracious}.]
     1. To eat up with greediness; to consume ravenously; to feast
        upon like a wild beast or a glutton; to prey upon.
        [1913 Webster]


  
              Some evil beast hath devoured him.    --Gen. xxxvii.
                                                    20.
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     2. To seize upon and destroy or appropriate greedily,
        selfishly, or wantonly; to consume; to swallow up; to use
        up; to waste; to annihilate.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Famine and pestilence shall devour him. --Ezek. vii.
                                                    15.
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              I waste my life and do my days devour. --Spenser.
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     3. To enjoy with avidity; to appropriate or take in eagerly
        by the senses.
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              Longing they look, and gaping at the sight,
              Devour her o'er with vast delight.    --Dryden.
  
     Syn: To consume; waste; destroy; annihilate.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  devour
       v 1: destroy completely; "Fire had devoured our home"
       2: enjoy avidly; "She devoured his novels"
       3: eat immoderately; "Some people can down a pound of meat in
          the course of one meal" [syn: {down}, {consume}, {go
          through}]
       4: eat greedily; "he devoured three sandwiches" [syn: {guttle},
           {raven}, {pig}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  139 Moby Thesaurus words for "devour":
     absorb, adore, and sinker, annihilate, appreciate, bask in, batten,
     be a sucker, be pleased with, be taken in, bite, bolt, bolt down,
     bring to ruin, condemn, confound, consume, cram, damn,
     deal destruction, decimate, delight in, demolish, depredate,
     derive pleasure from, desecrate, desolate, despoil, destroy,
     devastate, dispatch, dispose of, dissipate, dissolve, down, drink,
     drink in, eat, eat up, engorge, engulf, enjoy, eradicate, exhaust,
     fall for, feast on, feed on, freak out on, get away with, get down,
     get high on, gloat over, glut, gluttonize, go for, gobble,
     gobble up, gorge, gormandize, groove on, gulp, gulp down, gut,
     gut with fire, guttle, guzzle, havoc, imbibe, incinerate,
     indulge in, ingest, ingurgitate, lap up, lay in ruins, lay waste,
     like, line, live to eat, love, luxuriate in, meal, nibble,
     obliterate, overcome, overwhelm, partake of, pig, pillage,
     polish off, put away, ravage, raven, rejoice in, relish, revel in,
     riot in, ruin, ruinate, sack, savor, shipwreck, smack the lips,
     spoliate, squander, stuff, surround, swallow, swallow anything,
     swallow hook, swallow up, swallow whole, swamp, swill, swill down,
     swim in, swing at, take, take down, take in, take pleasure in,
     take the bait, throw into disorder, tuck in, tumble for,
     unleash destruction, unleash the hurricane, upheave, use up,
     vandalize, vaporize, wallow in, waste, wipe out, wolf, wolf down,
     worshiping, wrack, wreak havoc, wreck