devour, v.
(dɪˈvaʊə(r))
Also 4–6 devoure, 5 -vowre, -vowryn, -vouir, -wore, 6 devore, -vower, -voir(e.
[a. OF. devorer (stressed stem devur-, devour-) = Pr. and Sp. devorar, It. devorare, ad. L. dēvorāre to swallow down, f. de- I. 1 + vorāre to swallow, gulp.]
(Formerly often with up.)
I. properly.
1. To swallow or eat up voraciously, as a beast of prey; to make a prey of, to prey upon.
| c 1315 Shoreham 29 He soffreth noȝt to be to-trede, And of bestes devoured. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xiii. 55 Of Babiloyne sall a nedder comme, þat sall deuoure all þe werld. c 1430 Lydg. Chichev. & Byc. in Dodsley O. Pl. XII. 334 Wherfor Bycorn this cruel beste will us devouren at the lest. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 12 He..was of wylde bestes or Woluys slayne or deuouryd. 1559 Mirr. Mag., J. Cade xxi, Set aloft for vermine to deuower. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. Prayers 36 The dragon with his mouthe oppin reddy to deuoire ws. 1650 Trapp Comm. Pentat. I. 70 Like enough to devour up both men and beasts. 1722 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. ii. 120 Turned as a wolf to devour the lambs. 1869 Tennyson Coming of Arthur 27 And ever and anon the wolf would steal The children and devour. |
| absol. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. iii. 84 Brauely the figure of this Harpie hast thou Perform'd (my Ariell): a grace it had, deuouring. |
2. Of human beings: a. To eat greedily, eat up, consume or make away with, as food. b. spec. To eat like a beast, to eat ravenously or barbarously.
| a. 1382 Wyclif Rev. x. 9 He seide to me, Take the book and deuoure it. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxxix. 265 Than they wente vnto the dukes place of lancastre..that was callyd the sauoy, and ther they deuoured and destroyed al the goodes. 1586 B. Young tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 187 On Shroftuesdaie night I devoured so much, that y⊇ next daie I had no stomacke to eate anie thing at all. 1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike x. 110 To devour their meals hastily, as if their time were not their own. 1842 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 4) 240 We never eat more than enough. We never devour lobsters, or oysters, or salmon. |
| b. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 442 A great feeder, so that he seemed rather to devour his meat than to eat it. 1611 Bible Ecclus. xxxi. 16 Eate as it becommeth a man..and deuoure not, lest thou be hated. 1719 De Foe Crusoe II. ii. 28 The poor creatures rather devoured than ate it. |
II. transf. With consume as the main notion.
3. Of a person or personal agent: To consume destructively, recklessly, or wantonly; to make away with, waste, destroy (substance, property or fig. its owners). Obs. exc. in bibl. language.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter Cant. 511 Him þat deuours þe pore in hidil. 1382 Wyclif Ps. xxxiv. 25 Ne sei thei, wee shal devouren hym. 1382 ― Luke xv. 30 This thi sone, which deuouride his substaunce with hooris. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 66 He wolde his joly blood honoure, Though that he schulde holy chirche deuoure. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xvii. 280 Lightliche þat þei leue loseles hit deuouren. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. iii. (1885) 115 The reaume of Englonde..wolde be than a pray to all oþer nacions þat wolde conqwer, robbe, and deuouir it. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1701) 23/1 If any one maintain not his Parents, let him be infamous, as likewise he that devours his patrimony. 1657 J. Smith Myst. Rhet. 19 So we say of some Guardians, They have devoured the Orphans, intimating the Orphans' patrimony. |
b. with the sense swallow up more or less present: cf. 5.
| 1382 Wyclif Mark xii. 40 Scribis..whiche deuouren the housis of widewis. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 140 Ye..rape and deuour the almes and sustenaunce of the poore seruauntes of god. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. i. Wks. 1856 I. 11 She..Inticeth princes to devour heaven, Swallow omnipotence, out-stare dread fate. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. iii. 6 Thou, Varlet, dost thy Master's gains devour. 1836 Hor. Smith Tin Trump. (1876) 144 Wherever Religion has been the mother of wealth the daughter has invariably devoured the parent. |
† c. To make a prey of, treat with rapine. Obs.
| 1530 Palsgr. 515/1 He hath devoured twenty maydens and wyves agaynst their wylles in his dayes. c 1540 in Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 73 Seikand Christes peple to devoir. 1547 Salesbury Welsh Dict., Teisio morwyn, devoure a mayden. |
† d. To despoil (a person) of (substance) by consuming it. Obs. rare—1.
| 1545 Brinklow Compl. iv. (1874) 17 Let them make good defence, that their poore neyhbors..be not deuouryd of their corne and grasse. |
4. Of inanimate agencies: To consume, destroy. Said esp. of fire, sword, pestilence, or other agencies which claim numerous victims.
| c 1374 Chaucer Anel. & Arc. 14 This old story..That eild..hath nigh devoured oute of my memory. 1382 Wyclif Joel ii. 3 Before the face of hym fijr deuourynge, and after hym brenyng flawme. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 339 So that no life shall be socoured, But with the dedely swerd devoured. 1538 Starkey England i. ii. 46 Etyn away, dayly deuouryd and consumyd by commyn syknes and dysease. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 39 Stir Iupiter to anger to send vs a Stroke that shal deuoure vs. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 266 The Earth did not bring forth its Fruits..but devoured very many people by famine. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 210 But the Monument..is not now to be seen, for Time has devoured it. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 183 Haile mixt with fire must rend th' Egyptian Skie And wheel on th' Earth, devouring where it rouls. a 1711 Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 300 Their Beings no Corruption can devour, Annihilable by sole boundless Power. 1863 F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia 69 The flames devouring the light growth. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. iv. 61 Whom the sword spared famine and pestilence devoured. |
III. With swallow as the main notion.
5. Of water, the earth, etc.: To swallow up, engulf.
| 1555 Eden Decades 92 He had seene many Culchas deuoured of whirlepoles. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 148 The iawes of darknesse do deuoure it vp. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iv. Wks. 1856 I. 128 The very ouze, The quicksand that devours all miserie. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World II. iv. i. §4. 135 Those that tooke the Sea, were therein deuoured ere they recouered them. 1783 Crabbe Village i. Wks. 1834 II. 79 The ocean roar Whose greedy waves devour the lessening shore. |
6. Of persons: a. To take in greedily and with eagerness the sense of (a book, discourse, or the like).
| 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 63 They have devoured all sortes of bookes. 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 150 She'l'd come againe, and with a greedie eare Deuoure vp my discourse. 1647 Trapp Comm. Epistles 530 Ministers must so devour and digest the holy Scriptures, that [etc.]. 1753 A. Murphy Gray's-Inn Journ. No. 40 ¶2 Miss Vainlove devoured up these Expressions of Admiration with a greedy Ear. 1823 Scott Quentin D. Introd., He devoured the story of the work with which he was engaged. 1831 Brewster Newton (1855) I. i. 15 Devouring some favourite author. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke i. (1876) 11 Missionary tracts..how I devoured them. 1878 R. H. Hutton Scott ii. 19 He learned Spanish and devoured Cervantes. |
b. To take in eagerly with the eyes; to look upon with avidity.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. iii. (1676) 312/1 Drink to him with her eyes, nay drink him up, devour him, swallow him as Martial's Mammurra is remembered to have done. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 645 Early Visitants, With eager Eyes devouring..The breathing Figures of Corinthian Brass. 1718 Prior Solomon ii. 381 With an unguarded look she now devour'd My nearer face. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii 57 His eyes devoured her loveliness. 1891 I. Zangwill Bachelors Club 186 The Doctor devoured her with his eyes. |
c. To absorb greedily or selfishly.
| 1647–8 Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) 11 The House of Guise in a manner devoured all the Chief Employments of the State. |
d. To swallow or suppress within one's own breast (chagrin, grief, etc.).
| 1650 Trapp Comm. Pentat. i. 262 To persevere in prayer, and to devour all discouragements. 1820 Scott Abbot xxxviii, Catherine Seyton devoured in secret her own grief. 1850 Prescott Peru II. 182 Devouring his chagrin as he best could. |
7. Of things: a. To occupy (a person) so as to engross the attention; to absorb.
(Sometimes including the notion of consuming (4) or of swallowing up (5))
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xiv. 81 Devorit with dreme, devysing in my slummer. 1608 Shakes. Per. iv. iv. 25 Pericles, in sorrow all devour'd, With sighs shot through, and biggest tears o'ershower'd, Leaves Tarsus and again embarks. 1715–20 Pope Ep. Addison 41 Poor Vadius, long with learned spleen devour'd, Can taste no pleasure since his Shield was scour'd. 1863 Mrs. Oliphant Sal. Ch. xxi. 25 She walked home with Beecher, devoured by feverish hopes and fears. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. ii. (1875) 79 Not to hold ideas of this kind a little more easily, to be so devoured by them, to suffer them to become crotchets. |
b. To absorb so as to do away with.
| 1625 E. Tilman in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 244 The joy of the people devoured their mourning. 1875 Helps Ess., Pract. Wisd. 5 The large hands and feet of a dwarf seem to have devoured his stature. |
8. Phrases. † a. to devour difficulties [F. dévorer les difficultés]: to tackle and overcome difficulties with spirit. Obs. b. to devour the way, course, etc. [F. dévorer l'espace]; to get over the ground with great rapidity.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. i. 47 He seem'd in running, to deuoure the way, Staying no longer question. 1642 Rogers Naaman 128 She will hold close to her own tacklings and devour a great deale of difficulty. 1648 Sanderson Serm. Ad Aulam xvi. §25 (1674) 230 He that setteth forth for the goal, if he will obtain, must resolve to devour all difficulties, and to run it out. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 190 Wat Tyler was woundly angry with Sir John Newton, Knight..for devouring his distance, and not making his approaches mannerly enough unto him. 1725 Pope Odyss. viii. 102 None..swifter in the race devour the way. 1772 Pegge tr. Fitzstephen's Descr. London 38 The signal once given, they [the horses] strike, devour the course [cursum rapiunt], hurrying along with unremitting velocity. 1883 Holme Lee Loving & Serving II. xiii. 271 The strong black horse was very fresh, and devoured the road before him. |