3 meanings
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1 —as in:
devoured three sandwiches
Definition
eat rapidly and completely — usually due to being very hungry- She devoured everything on her plate in less than two minutes and asked for more.
devoured = ate rapidly and completely
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- The lions devoured the antelope.
- After he had devoured the chocolate he felt somewhat ashamed of himself and hung about in the streets for several hours, until hunger drove him home.George Orwell -- 1984
- Dill devoured it, chewing with his front teeth, as was his custom.Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
- In the adjoining sector they attacked two large cats and a dog, bit them to death and devoured them.Erich Maria Remarque -- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Then they broke out into the sunlight and for a while they were busy finding and devouring food as they moved down the scar toward the platform and the meeting.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
- "It's an insidious plan, if I do say so myself." Faber glanced nervously at his bedroom door. "To see the firehouses burn across the land, destroyed as hotbeds of treason. The salamander devours his tail!"Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451
- Bulls which had always been tractable suddenly turned savage, sheep broke down hedges and devoured the clover, cows kicked the pail over, hunters refused their fences and shot their riders on to the other side.George Orwell -- Animal Farm
- The bread we had brought from Buna had long since been devoured.Elie Wiesel -- Night
- She found Odysseus in the thick of slaughtered corpses,
splattered with bloody filth like a lion that's devoured
some ox of the field and lopes home, covered with blood,Homer -- The Odyssey
devoured = ate rapidly and completely
devoured = eaten rapidly and completely
devoured = ate rapidly and completely
devoured = ate rapidly and completely
devouring = eating rapidly and completely
devours = eats rapidly and completely
devoured = ate rapidly
devoured = eaten rapidly and completely
devoured = ate rapidly and completely
2 —as in:
devours crime novels
Definition
to read, listen, or watch with eager interest- She devoured everything he wrote.
devoured = read with eager interest
- She devours anything written about him.
devours = reads, listens, or watches with eager interest
3 —as in:
devoured by flames
Definition
to consume or destroy completely- The entire block was devoured in the fire.
devoured = consumed or destroyed completely
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- I saw the mudslide devour the road.
- We stood watching the street fill with men and cars while fire silently devoured Miss Maudie's house.Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
- The waves rose in growing fury, each over-topping its fellow, till in a very few minutes the lately glassy sea was like a roaring and devouring monster.Bram Stoker -- Dracula
- Then, with a movement which was as nearly as possible unconscious, he crumpled up the original message and any notes that he himself had made, and dropped them into the memory hole to be devoured by the flames.George Orwell -- 1984
- That's why she keeps talking about a fire devouring her.Elie Wiesel -- Night
- My brain seemed to lurch full speed back into life, flooding with milky-white images of the two of us sitting in front his desk, staring at each other as a fire devoured everything around us.Alexandra Bracken -- The Darkest Minds
- So, we will devour your worldly goods and wealth
as long as she holds out, holds to that course
the gods have charted deep inside her heart.
Great renown she wins for herself, no doubt,
great loss for you in treasure.Homer -- The Odyssey - I didn't feel sleepy, and I did feel full of devouring anxiety.Bram Stoker -- Dracula
- Have you seen that awful den of hellish infamy, with the very moonlight alive with grisly shapes, and every speck of dust that whirls in the wind a devouring monster in embryo?Bram Stoker -- Dracula
devour = consume or destroy completely
devoured = consumed or destroyed completely
devouring = consuming (as though to swallow the ship)
devoured = destroyed
devouring = consuming or destroying completely
devoured = consumed or destroyed completely
devour = consuming (using up) completely
devouring = consuming
devouring = consuming or destroying completely