devouring
むさぼり食う
解説 Definition
devouring は devour（むさぼり食う、がつがつ食べる）の現在分詞・動名詞です。食べ物を勢いよく食べる様子を表し、比喩的な意味もありますが、ここでは実際に食べる意味で使います。
Devouring means eating something quickly, eagerly, and in large amounts, as if extremely hungry. In this sense, the -ing form describes an action in progress and emphasizes greater speed or appetite than the neutral verb eating.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
原形 devour「むさぼり食う」に -ing をそのまま付けた形です。vor は「飲み込む」に関係し、voracious や carnivore と結び付けられます。a dog devouring its dinner のように、非常に空腹な人や動物が食べ物を勢いよく食べ尽くす場面を覚えましょう。単なる eating より強い表現です。
Connect devouring with the base verb devour and with words containing vor, such as voracious and carnivore. They share the image of swallowing or consuming food. Add -ing directly to devour to describe the action as ongoing. Picture a hungry dog devouring its dinner or hikers devouring hot soup after a long walk. The word is much stronger than eating: it suggests great hunger, enthusiasm, speed, and sometimes finishing nearly everything. Keep this literal food-related sense separate from figurative uses such as devouring a book.
例文
The hungry dog is devouring its dinner.
お腹をすかせた犬が夕食をむさぼるように食べています。
She watched the boys devouring the sandwiches.
彼女は少年たちがサンドイッチをがつがつ食べるのを見ていました。
After the hike, they were devouring bowls of hot soup.
ハイキングの後、彼らは熱いスープを夢中で食べていました。
devouring の類義語・関連語
devouring の語源・成り立ち Etymology
古フランス語を経由しラテン語「devorare」に由来する。接頭辞「de-」(完全に)と語根「vor」(飲み込む)から「丸ごと飲み込む」の意となり、貪るように食べつくす語義が定着した。同語根に「voracious(大食いの)」や「carnivore(肉食動物)」がある。
Devouring is the -ing form of devour. Devour came through Old French from Latin devorare, formed from de-, used intensively, and vorare, “to swallow or eat greedily.” The same Latin root appears in voracious and in compounds such as carnivore. The original image of swallowing something completely produced the English sense of eating eagerly, rapidly, or in large quantities.
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