MEANING
To eat something rapidly and voraciously, often consuming it extensively.
Use it for
Predation that consumes rather than merely kills; bodily disappearance; ravenous appetiteLet consumption create the horror instead of treating killing as the final act.
Words that belong together
- devour prey
- devour the flesh
- devour whole
On the page
The creatures devoured the carcass before sunrise.
It began to devour the soft tissue around the wound.
She found only the collar; something had devoured the animal.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- devour / devours
- Past tense
- devoured
- Past participle
- devoured
- Present participle
- devouring
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- devour / devours
- Present continuous
- am/is/are devouring
- Present perfect
- have/has devoured
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been devouring
- Past
- devoured
- Past continuous
- was/were devouring
- Past perfect
- had devoured
- Past perfect continuous
- had been devouring
- Future
- will devour / devours
- Future continuous
- will be devouring
- Future perfect
- will have devoured
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been devouring
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Stronger in appetite than simply eat; does not necessarily specify chewing or swallowing whole. Figurative reading can imply eager consumption of books or attention. Verb [base, third-person present, past, past participle, -ing]: devour, devours, devoured, devoured, devouring. Derived/related family (not inflections): devourer (agent noun).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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