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Devour vs Feast - What's the difference?

devour | feast |

As verbs the difference between devour and feast

is that devour is to eat quickly, greedily, hungrily, or ravenously while feast is to partake in a , or large meal.

As a noun feast is

a very large meal, often of a ceremonial nature.

devour

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To eat quickly, greedily, hungrily, or ravenously.
  • To rapidly destroy, engulf, or lay waste.
  • :
  • *Bible, (w) i. 20
    • If ye refuseye shall be devoured with the sword.
  • *{{quote-book, year=2006, author=(w)
    • , chapter=1, title= Internal Combustion , passage=Blast after blast, fiery outbreak after fiery outbreak, like a flaming barrage from within,
  • To take in avidly with the intellect.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy […] distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its savour.
  • To absorb or engross the mind fully, especially in a destructive manner.
  • :

    • Synonyms

    * gobble, gorge, consume, devastate, overwhelm, wolf

    feast

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) feest, feste, fest, from (etyl) feste, from (etyl) festa, plural of .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A very large meal, often of a ceremonial nature.
    • We had a feast to celebrate the harvest.
  • Something delightful
    • It was a feast for the eyes.
  • A festival; a holiday; a solemn, or more commonly, a joyous, anniversary.
  • * Bible, Exodus xiii. 6
    • The seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.
  • * Bible, Luke ii. 41
    • Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
    Synonyms
    * banquet
    Derived terms
    * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) feesten, festen, from (etyl) fester, from , from the noun. See above.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To partake in a , or large meal.
    • I feasted on turkey and dumplings.
  • To dwell upon (something) with delight.
  • * Shakespeare
    • With my love's picture then my eye doth feast .
  • To hold a in honor of (someone).
    • We feasted them after the victory.
  • To serve as a feast for; to feed sumptuously.
  • * Bishop Joseph Hall
    • Or once a week, perhaps, for novelty / Reez'd bacon-soords shall feast his family.
    Derived terms
    * feaster * feast one’s eyes

    Anagrams

    * * *