devour

in a sentence

grouped by contextual meaning

The lions devoured the antelope.

Half of the tiny yard was a cement patio and the other half was another patch of grass that our imaginary cow would devour in two bites.  (source) Sharon Creech, Walk Two Moons, 1994

I watched him from my window and remembered a story he'd told me once about a great serpent that the men of the north believe in, which yearns to devour all the world.  (source) Madeline Miller, Circe, 2018

Then the carrots. Again, he set two aside and devoured the third.  (source) Markus Zusak, The Book Thief, 2005

The atmosphere feels hungry, like every sixteen-year-old is trying to devour as much as he can get of this last day.  (source) Veronica Roth, Divergent, 2011

I started devouring the sandwich.  (source) R. J. Palacio, Wonder, 2012

I am inclined to envy Mr. Rushworth for having so much happiness yet before him. I have been a devourer of my own.  (source) Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?†  (source) Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1852

All the eight nestlings, utt'ring piercing cries, The snake devour'd; and as the mother flew, Lamenting o'er her offspring, round and round, Uncoiling, caught her, shrieking, by the wing.†  (source) Homer, The Iliad, -850 B.C.

Money-lenders and devourers of the commune are rising up.†  (source) Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, 1880

He devours a spoonful and says, "You're weird."  (source) Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give, 2017

36:13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations: 36:14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD.†  (source) The Bible, Old Testament, 1611

Mr. Hoo slammed the reservations book shut, pressed a hand against the pain in his ample stomach, unwrapped a chocolate bar, and devoured it quickly before acid etched another ulcer.  (source) Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game, 1978

She devours anything written about him.

Some of them were about romance, and although Reenie devoured these we had little use for them.  (source) Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin, 2000

I devoured books about young-earth creationism, and joined online chat rooms to challenge scientists on the theory of evolution.  (source) J. D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy, 2016

I am very impressed, you really devoured that book, didn't you?  (source) Christopher Paul Curtis, Bud, Not Buddy, 1999

"Someone who devours books like you should have this one," she said.  (source) Cornelia Funke, Inkheart, 2003

We have willing dames enough. There cannot be That vulture in you, to devour so many As will to greatness dedicate themselves, Finding it so inclined.  (source) William Shakespeare, Macbeth, 1606

He spent hours devouring every Iranian publication he could obtain.  (source) Betty Mahmoody, Not Without My Daughter, 1989

I suspect she suspected that I had a different take on the matter, but she never said anything when as a child I devoured the comic books of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and an illustrated children's Bible and other stories of the gods.  (source) Yann Martel, Life of Pi, 2001

I ran down to the bookstore and returned with a small fortune in reading materials, which Jenny devoured in the first three days.  (source) John Grogan, Marley & Me, 2005

Even during his adolescence he had devoured, in the order of their appearance, all the volumes of the Popular Library that Transito Ariza bought from the bargain booksellers at the Arcade of the Scribes, where one could find everything from Homer to the least meritorious of the local poets.  (source) Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera, 1988

Quickly I devoured letters from Joe and John and Mum and Dad.  (source) Betty Mahmoody, Not Without My Daughter, 1989

...and Anne was devoured by secret regret that she had not been born in Camelot.  (source) Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne Of Green Gables, 1908

When she was five she had often practiced reading the old-fashioned, spindly lettering: Some books should be tasted some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.  (source) Cornelia Funke, Inkheart, 2003

Over a thousand acres of the forest was devoured by the flames.

Great gods smell fear like sharks smell blood, and they will devour you for it just the same.  (source) Madeline Miller, Circe, 2018

We stood on the street watching the flames devour the shack.  (source) Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle, 2005

Sometimes he was red as fire, sometimes gray as the ash to which fire turns all that it devours.  (source) Cornelia Funke, Inkheart, 2003

For the children, there are small gods of sweetened bread for them to eat; for the children with their greedy little mouths represent the future, which like time itself will devour all now alive.  (source) Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin, 2000

Our own street was on a hill, so we were a bit better protected from the overflowing river, but we shivered at the sound of it, a growling heavy-breathing dragon devouring everything in its path.  (source) Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala, 2013

Inch by inch the billowing flames devoured the supplies and the shelter.  (source) Ben Mikaeslen, Touching Spirit Bear, 2001

I mention it to no one, but it devours my waking hours and weaves itself throughout my nightmares.  (source) Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay, 2010

I was experiencing nostalgia for the life I'd had before, which I would lose at any second, when the world turned and began to devour itself.  (source) Tara Westover, Educated, 2018

...and all around them the last few objects unburned by the devouring flames were flung into the air, as the creatures of the cursed fire cast them high in celebration: cups and shields, a sparkling necklace, and an old, discolored tiara — "What are you doing, what are you doing, the door's that way!"…  (source) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 2007

We stood watching the street fill with men and cars while fire silently devoured Miss Maudie's house.  (source) Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960

This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down.  (source) J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, 1937

Pa cruised slowly back onto a bright sea—the sun taking less time to devour the fog than it took Jumpin' to fill a tank.  (source) Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing, 2018