devour

English

Anglo-Norman devourer, Old French devorer (Modern French dévorer), from Latin dēvorō, from vorō.

devour (third-person singular simple present devours, present participle devouring, simple past and past participle devoured)

To eat quickly, greedily, hungrily, or ravenously.
To rapidly destroy, engulf, or lay waste.
The fire was devouring the building.
- 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, Internal Combustion^[1]:
  Blast after blast, fiery outbreak after fiery outbreak, like a flaming barrage from within, […] most of Edison's grounds soon became an inferno. As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities.
To take in avidly with the intellect.
She intended to devour the book.
To absorb or engross the mind fully, especially in a destructive manner.
After the death of his wife, he was devoured by grief.

to eat greedily

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