Sample Sentences for
devour
grouped by contextual meaning
(editor-reviewed)

devour as in:  devoured three sandwiches

•
She devoured everything on her plate in less than two minutes and asked for more.
devoured = ate rapidly and completely
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • •
    The lions devoured the antelope.
  • •
    The atmosphere feels hungry, like every sixteen-year-old is trying to devour as much as he can get of this last day.  (source)
    devour = eat rapidly and completely
  • •
    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)
    devour = eat completely
▲ show less (of above)
Show 10 more with 8 word variations
  • •
    Dill devoured it, chewing with his front teeth, as was his custom.  (source)
    devoured = ate rapidly and completely
  • •
    When the imaginary meal was prepared, the men would devour every crumb, describing each mouthful.  (source)
    devour = eat completely
  • •
    I started devouring the sandwich.  (source)
    devouring = eating rapidly and completely
  • •
    I am inclined to envy Mr. Rushworth for having so much happiness yet before him. I have been a devourer of my own.  (source)
    devourer = to eat completely and rapidly (figurative)
  • •
    Money-lenders and devourers of the commune are rising up.†  (source)
  • •
    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)
    standard suffix: Today, the suffix "-eth" is replaced by "-s", so that where they said "She devoureth" in older English, today we say "She devours."
  • •
    Rise O Days from Your Fathomless Deeps 1 Rise O days from your fathomless deeps, till you loftier, fiercer sweep, Long for my soul hungering gymnastic I devour'd what the earth gave me, Long I roam'd amid the woods of the north, long I watch'd Niagara pouring, I travel'd the prairies over and slept on their breast, I cross'd the Nevadas, I cross'd the plateaus, I ascended the towering rocks along the Pacific, I sail'd out to sea, I sail'd through the storm, I was refresh'd by the storm, I watch'd with joy the threatening maws of the waves, I mark'd the white combs where they career'd so high, curling over, I heard the wind piping, I saw the black clouds, Saw from bel†  (source)
  • •
    He devours a spoonful and says, "You're weird."  (source)
    devours = eats rapidly and completely
  • •
    Then the carrots. Again, he set two aside and devoured the third.  (source)
    devoured = ate rapidly
  • •
    Female fireflies draw in strange males with dishonest signals and eat them; mantis females devour their own mates. Female insects, Kya thought, know how to deal with their lovers.  (source)
    devour = eat
▲ show less (of above)

devour as in:  devours crime novels

•
She devoured everything he wrote.
devoured = read with eager interest
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • •
    She devours anything written about him.
    devours = reads with eager interest
  • •
    I am very impressed, you really devoured that book, didn't you?  (source)
    devoured = read completely with eager interest
  • •
    I devoured books about young-earth creationism, and joined online chat rooms to challenge scientists on the theory of evolution.  (source)
    devoured = read with eager interest
▲ show less (of above)
Show 10 more with 4 word variations
  • •
    ...and Anne was devoured by secret regret that she had not been born in Camelot.  (source)
    devoured = completely consumed
  • •
    "Someone who devours books like you should have this one," she said.  (source)
    devours = reads rapidly
  • •
    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)
    devour = consume
  • •
    He spent hours devouring every Iranian publication he could obtain.  (source)
    devouring = reading with eager interest
  • •
    Quickly I devoured letters from Joe and John and Mum and Dad.  (source)
    devoured = read
  • •
    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)
    devoured = read with eager interest
  • •
    Some of them were about romance, and although Reenie devoured these we had little use for them.  (source)
  • •
    I ran down to the bookstore and returned with a small fortune in reading materials, which Jenny devoured in the first three days.  (source)
    devoured = read completely with eager interest
  • •
    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)
    devoured = read with eager interest
  • •
    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)
    devoured = read with eager interest ("eaten rapidly" in a figurative sense)
▲ show less (of above)

devour as in:  devoured by flames

Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • •
    Over a thousand acres of the forest was devoured by the flames.
    devoured = completely consumed or destroyed (in this case, burned)
  • •
    Gray walls and concrete floors had bleached out almost every memory of my parents' house, stripping away first the small details—the smell of my mom's honey-soaked biscuits, the order of the pictures lining the staircase wall—before going on to devour the bigger ones, too.  (source)
    devour = consume or destroy completely
  • •
    We stood on the street watching the flames devour the shack.  (source)
    devour = destroy (completely burn up)
▲ show less (of above)
Show 10 more with 4 word variations
  • •
    As the flowers flare up, a burst of blue flame envelops the rose and devours it.  (source)
    devours = destroys or consumes
  • •
    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)
    devour = consume or eliminate
  • •
    Immediately Meg was swept into darkness, into nothingness, and then into the icy devouring cold of the Black Thing.  (source)
    devouring = swallowing (completely surrounding and covering)
  • •
    Soon the whole stove was covered with hot flames that licked and devoured everything they touched.  (source)
    devoured = destroyed
  • •
    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)
    devours = consumes or destroys completely
  • •
    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)
    devour = consume or destroy completely
  • •
    And then Harry heard a thin, piteous human scream from amidst the terrible commotion, the thunder of devouring flame.  (source)
    devouring = destructive
  • •
    We stood watching the street fill with men and cars while fire silently devoured Miss Maudie's house.  (source)
    devoured = destroyed
  • •
    Sometimes he was red as fire, sometimes gray as the ash to which fire turns all that it devours.  (source)
    devours = destroys (burns up completely)
  • •
    At one point Hildebranda confessed that when Dr. Juvenal Urbino covered his eyes and she saw the splendor of his perfect teeth between his rosy lips, she had felt an irresistible desire to devour him with kisses.  (source)
    devour = cover or engulf
▲ show less (of above)