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Any hairy caterpillar which appears in great numbers, devouring herbage, and wandering about like a palmer. The name is applied also to other voracious insects. Joel. i. 4.

That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim. The old lion perisheth for lack of prey. Job iv. ii. Already sees herself the monster's prey. Dryden.

One who, or that which, preys; a plunderer; a waster; a devourer. Hooker.

Greedily devouring; rapacious; as, ravening wolves. -- Rav"en*ing*ly, adv.

Devouring with rapacious eagerness; furiously voracious; hungry even to rage; as, a ravenous wolf or vulture.

one to our religion ultimately redounds to God, the author of it. Rogers. both . . . will devour great quantities of paper, there will no small use redound from them to that manufacture. Addison.

to comply. Too proud to ask, too humble to refuse. Garth. If ye refuse . . . ye shall be devoured with the sword. Isa. i. 20.

soms of the rose, especially Cacæcia rosaceana, which rolls up the leaves for a nest, and devours both the leaves and buds.

ing or sweeping, and carrying off the fifth. The name is also applied to any animal which devours refuse, carrion, or anything injurious to health. Scavenger beetle (Zoöl.), any beetle which feeds on decaying substances, as the carrion beetle. -- Scavanger crab (Zoöl.), any crab which feeds on dead animals, as the spi…

upon reptiles of various kinds, and is much prized on account of its habit of killing and devouring snakes of all kinds. Called also serpent eater.

False semblance; deceitful appearance; pretense. Beware of the scribes, . . . which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers. Luke xx. 46. 47.

, or preserve the memory, of a thing; a token; a memorial; a monument. What time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. Num. xxvi. 10.

upport from sinking; to sustain with strength; to satisfy in part or for the time. He has devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter, and it has not staid his stomach for a minute. Sir W. Scott.

o drink in great draughts; to swallow greedily. Well-dressed people, of both sexes, . . . devouring sliced beef, and swilling pork, and punch, and cider. Smollett.

To acquire by labor. [Obs.] Piers Plowman. To devour all that others swink. Chaucer.

To take sparingly. For age but tastes of pleasures, youth devours. Dryden.

Hastening to devour; furious.

Devouring worms; feeding on worms; as, vermivorous birds.

Greedy in eating; very hungry; eager to devour or swallow; ravenous; gluttonous; edacious; rapacious; as, a voracious man or appetite; a voracious gulf or whirlpool. Dampier. -- Vo*ra"cious*ly, adv. -- Vo*ra"cious*ness, n.

Pertaining to a gulf; full of gulfs; hence, devouring. [R.] Mallet.