I. ˈgäbəl verb
( gobbled ; gobbled ; gobbling -b(ə)liŋ ; gobbles )
Etymology: probably from gob (I) + -le (freq. suffix)
transitive verb
1. : to eat greedily or swallow hastily and noisily in large mouthfuls : gulp
they gobbled what was left of the breakfast — S.H.Adams
turned themselves into tigers and gobbled up human beings — Newsweek
2. : to seize or capture greedily or hastily : take eagerly : grab — usually used with up
permitting the three small countries to be gobbled up individually by their aggressive neighbor
a bond issue was quickly gobbled up — E.O.Hauser
3. : to read rapidly or greedily
many bright girls can gobble up such books — Louise S. Bechtel
intransitive verb
: to eat greedily and hastily
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: imitative
intransitive verb
1. : to make the natural guttural noise of a turkey-cock
the older toms gobble and strut to attract the attention of the females
2. : to make a sound resembling the gobble of a turkey
a tiny geyser gobbled — Rudyard Kipling
transitive verb
: to utter or emit by or as if by gobbling
the obscenities that poured out of him were gobbled so that their point was lost — Walter Macken
III. noun
( -s )
: a noise made by or as if by gobbling