HOW TO PRONOUNCE
devour
/dɪˈvaʊɚ/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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What does devour mean?
verb
- To eat quickly, greedily, hungrily, or ravenously.
- To rapidly destroy, engulf, or lay waste.
- To take in avidly with the intellect or with one's gaze.
More meanings (2)
verb
- To absorb or engross the mind fully, especially in a destructive manner.
- Synonym of eat: to be very good at something; to slay.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/dɪˈvaʊɚ/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Epicurus said of the laws, “That the worst were so necessary for us that without them men would devour one another.”
Even the sky is not safe from scath—blurred and blackened whole summers together with the smoke of fires that devour the woods.
More book examples (3)
“Had you seen him devour the raw meat of the lion, Esmeralda,” laughed Clayton, “you would have thought him a very material angel.”
The retired proprietor is really the owl of the fable gathering beech-nuts for its mutilated mice until it is ready to devour them.
In short, the whole country was fast overrunning with vagabonds, like ravening locusts, seeking where they might light, and whom they should devour.