Synonyms for "devour"

[Naeem Afzal]

Hi teachers,

He devoured half of his burger in one bite.

Can I use "gobble, guzzle, bolt, wolf" in place of "devour"?

PS: While I was looking up these words, I found out that "wolf" and "gobble" were the synonyms.

Thanks.

 

[SoothingDave]

That is correct. "Bolt" is completely wrong.

"Guzzle" is for liquids. You can guzzle a beer, but not a burger.

 

[lotus888]

Devoured would be best. You can also say:

He wolfed down his hamburger in one bite!


--lotus

 

[Naeem Afzal]

@SoothingDave and others

So "gobble" and "wolf" are correct.

But "guzzle" in BrE also means "to eat food quickly and in large amounts", doesn't it?

Why is "bolt" totally wrong? Can you please explain?

 

[emsr2d2]

We use "bolt" in BrE in a food context.

I'll just bolt this bowl of soup down and then I'll come and meet you.
He bolted his sandwich so fast, he felt sick.

"Guzzle" does not mean "to eat food quickly and in large amounts" in BrE. Why do you think it does? We use it with reference to drinking liquids quickly.

 

[Naeem Afzal]

Let me quote the exact words from the Oxford dictionary.

Guzzle - (informal, usually disapproving) to drink sth quickly and in large amounts. In British English it also means to eat food quickly and in large amounts:

 

[emsr2d2]

Well, I'm happy to nail my colours to the mast and say that I disagree with "the Oxford dictionary". Can you let us know which one and which edition please?

 

[Naeem Afzal]

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English (sixth edition)

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

I agree with emsr2d2.

I thought I'd have a look at oxforddictionaries.com to see what they have to say, and to my surprise their definition says, 'Eat or drink (something) greedily'. They then go on to give examples of usage, all of which are to do with liquids.

 

[JMurray]

not a teacher

I wouldn't say that I never hear "guzzle" in reference to eating rather than drinking, but it is much rarer. It's not until the 6th page of fraze-it that we find an example from the Telegraph: "There are apples, plums and walnuts to guzzle as we walk". telegraph.co.uk
http://fraze.it/n_search.jsp?hardm=1&0&l=0&p=6&q=guzzle
The next is on page 11. Amongst a few examples of electricity and money, the vast majority are liquids.

 

[MikeNewYork]

As an AmE speaker, I have never heard "guzzle" used for food. I have heard "bolt" used for devouring food, but mostly by animals.