devoro

dē-vŏro, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a., to swallow, swallow down, gulp down, devour (class.; esp. freq. in transf. signif.—for syn. cf.: edo, comedo, vescor, pascor, mando).

I.

Lit., of the physical act:

id quod devoratur,

Cic. N. D. 2, 54, 135:

ovum gallinaceum integrum,

Cato R. R. 71: laseris paululum, [p. 567] Cels. 4, 4, 4:

salivam suam,

id. 2, 6, 98;

lapides,

Plin. 8, 10, 10, § 29:

succum,

id. 20, 23, 98, § 260:

fumum,

id. 26, 6, 16, § 30 et saep.—

II.

Transf.

A.

Of inanimate subjects, to swallow up, ingulf, absorb:

devorer telluris hiatu,

Ov. H. 3, 63:

terra devoravit montem,

Plin. 2, 91, 93, § 205:

vel me Charybdis devoret,

Ov. Tr. 5, 2, 74:

terras devorant aquae,

Plin. 31, 1, 1, § 2:

sol aquas devorans,

id. 20 prooem. §

1: ne rotae devorarentur (viarum mollitudine),

Vitr. 10, 6.—

B.

To seize upon greedily or hastily, to swallow eagerly, to devour: meretricem ego item esse reor, mare ut est;

quod des, devorat,

Plaut. Truc. 2, 7, 16:

spe et opinione praedam,

Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 51; cf.:

spe devoratum lucrum,

id. Fl. 24; and:

regis hereditatem spe,

id. Att. 1, 16, 10:

aliquid oculis,

Just. 21, 5, 6; cf.:

spectat oculis devorantibus draucos,

Mart. 1, 97; cf. infra III. B.—

C.

To swallow down, repress, suppress, check: verborum pars devorari solet, to be swallowed, i. e. only half pronounced, Quint. 11, 3, 33; so, verba, Sen. de Ira, 3, 14 fin.; cf.

lacrimas,

i. e. to repress, Ov. F. 4, 845; id. M. 13, 540:

gemitus,

Sen. Ep. 66 med. —

D.

Of property, to consume, to waste, = exhaurire:

omnem pecuniam publicam,

Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 76; id. Phil. 13, 2, 3; id. Pis. 21.—And with a pers. object: Si. Jamne illum comesurus es? Ba. Dum recens est, Dum datur, dum calet, devorari decet, Plaut. Ps. 4, 7, 26; id. As. 2, 2, 71; cf.: ut hominem devorari, cujus patrimonium consumitur, Quint. 8, 6, 25.—

2.

Trop., to consume, destroy:

devorent vos arma vestra,

Just. 14, 4, 14; cf.:

aquilarum pinnae reliquarum alitum pinnas devorant,

Plin. 10, 3, 4, § 15:

vox devoratur,

i. e. is swallowed up, lost, id. 11, 51, 112, § 270: devoravi nomen imprudens, swallowed, i. e. I have lost, utterly forgotten, Plaut. Trin. 4, 2, 63: devorato pudore, Ap. M. 9, p. 225.—

III.

Trop.

A.

To swallow any thing unpleasant, i. e to bear patiently, to endure:

hominum ineptias ac stultitias,

Cic. Brut. 67, 236; so,

molestiam paucorum dierum,

id. Phil. 6, 6, 17:

taedium illud,

Quint. 11, 2, 41: bilem et dolorem, Tert. Res. carn. 54.—

B.

To accept eagerly, enjoy:

quid tibi faciam qui illos libros devorasti,

Cic. Att. 7, 3, 2:

os impiorum devorat iniquitatem,

Vulg. Prov. 19, 28:

auscultate et mea dicta devorate,

Plaut. As. 3, 3, 59; cf.:

orationem dulcem (aures),

id. Poen. 5, 2, 9:

verbum ipsum (voluptatis),

id. Sest. 10, 23.—

C.

ejus oratio, nimia religione attenuata, a multitudine et a foro devorabatur, qs. swallowed but not digested (i. e. heard without being understood), Cic. Brut. 82, 283.