devouring 1 of 2

adjective

as in gobbling

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devouring

2 of 2

verb

present participle of devour
1
as in consuming
to destroy all trace of a series of devastating storms devoured the beach on the south side of the island

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in spending
to make complete use of a catastrophic medical event that devoured their savings

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in inhaling
to swallow or eat greedily the starving villagers simply devoured the relief food

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of devouring
Adjective
That wall of water roared downstream, smashing and devouring. — Karen Valby, Vanity Fair, 16 June 2026 Family drama fueled by Dorothy's world-devouring, man-eating antics aside, Scarpetta is also aiming to separate itself from the competition by leveraging a unique narrative structure that essentially adapts two of Cornwell's books in a single season. — Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Mar. 2026
Verb
The youthfulness behind the order was balanced by his commitment to fitness and his role as a professional hockey player that kept him from devouring it all. — Scott Powers, New York Times, 30 July 2026 The swarms of flies that roamed the planet like a devouring fog enclosed the top of the tower, building new, shivering walls, buzzing in a frenzy of life and hunger. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 27 July 2026 Just because an ebook is charting on Kindle doesn’t mean people are devouring it. — Will Oremus, The Atlantic, 27 July 2026 Polyphemus The most famous of the Cyclops, Polyphemus traps Odysseus and his crew in his cave before devouring several of the men. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 26 July 2026 Political theory students still study their practical wisdom, often after devouring centuries of more speculative and theoretical texts. — Steven Johnson, Washington Post, 14 July 2026 Many of them, like Tubbs, were refugee Midwesterners, sick of parching droughts and devouring plagues of locusts, the insects descending in buzzing clouds thick enough to blacken the noonday sun. — Literary Hub, 10 July 2026 Their supporters with zero life experience are devouring their pie-in-the-sky mumbo jumbo. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 5 July 2026 On America’s 250th birthday, there was former San Jose resident Joey Chestnut on a stage at Coney Island in New York City, devouring hot dogs faster than anyone. — Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 4 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for devouring
  1. insatiable
  2. consuming
  3. spending
  4. inhaling
  5. draining
  6. gulping
  7. exhausting
  8. cramming
Adjective
  • Google signed a gigantic infrastructure deal to supply Anthropic with cutting-edge chips as the industry explores new financing paradigms to meet the AI industry's insatiable appetite for compute power.
    — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Asked his frustration level over the Dodgers’ insatiable appetite to obtain every star in baseball, White Sox general manager Chris Getz was obviously reading from a script written by Aaron Sorkin.
    — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of insatiable
Verb
  • Fifteen wildfires were burning across the state, consuming 250,000 acres, state Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove said at Sunday’s news conference.
    — Dennis Romero, NBC news, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Crews used tactical burns overnight, deliberately consuming vegetation ahead of active sectors to deprive the main fire of fuel.
    — Thomas Adamson, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of consuming
Verb
  • Or spending a day bouncing in the waves on a Caribbean island or on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
    — Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 5 Aug. 2026
  • An adjusted cap wouldn’t simply benefit bigger-spending clubs, though.
    — John Cassillo, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of spending
Verb
  • Legionnaires' disease is a severe form of pneumonia that is caused by inhaling the Legionella bacteria in small droplets of water mixed in the air or contaminated water accidentally going into the lungs.
    — Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 31 July 2026
  • Health effects from inhaling wildfire smoke But the effects are sweeping, said Hayden, who has developed real-time mapping of mortality estimates from wildfire smoke.
    — Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 18 July 2026
Definition of inhaling
Verb
  • Make sure vents are unobstructed, check that the condensate drain is draining properly, and keep the area around the indoor unit clean and dry.
    — Bianca Lambert, Southern Living, 31 July 2026
  • After the nation’s July 4 celebration, workers began draining and repairing the pool to address the underlying problems.
    — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 31 July 2026
Definition of draining
Verb
  • Others can’t stand the sound of gulping.
    — Sloane Crosley, New Yorker, 8 June 2026
  • This viral anti-slip slow feeder lick bowl helps prevent gulping and bloating, while keeping your dogs entertained for longer with a healthy, fun challenge.
    — Kasey Caminiti, USA Today, 25 May 2026
Definition of gulping
Verb
  • This strategic move follows growing concerns over rapidly escalating enterprise AI budgets, with companies like Uber and Microsoft quickly exhausting their allocations.
    — Rachel Wells, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
  • After graduating with a degree in business economics, Pichardo learned that NCAA athletes can compete in a different sport after exhausting their initial four years of eligibility.
    — Marisa Ingemi, Mercury News, 27 July 2026
Definition of exhausting
Verb
  • The situation is also symptomatic of broader strains on the country's higher education system, where grossly limited spots leave millions cramming for months, or even years, and high-stakes entrance exams leave many of them burnt out and in debt.
    — Sakshi Dayal, USA Today, 22 July 2026
  • An early 2022 op-ed in the University of Calgary’s student newspaper described the idea as the antithesis of hustle culture, one that finds satisfaction in mundane tasks rather than cramming productivity into every waking moment.
    — Allison Palmer July 7, Charlotte Observer, 7 July 2026
Definition of cramming

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devouring
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Cite this Entry

“Devouring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/devouring. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of devouring for Spanish Speakers

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