Wolving

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Devouring food ravenously and in large gulps, as a hungry animal would consume its prey
2. Gobbling down a meal with fierce, hasty greed, barely pausing to chew
3. Eating voraciously and rapidly, consuming everything set before one with little restraint

Etymology: "Wolving" is the present participle of "wolve," a verb meaning to eat very quickly, as a wolf does. The verb is formed directly from "wolf," the noun for the wild canine, and it follows the familiar pattern of animal names turned into verbs for behaviour that looks like the animal's. Anyone who has watched a hungry dog bolt its dinner will recognise the picture the word paints. The word is a straightforward derivation rather than a borrowing, so its story is simply the animal's. The noun "wolf" has been part of English since Old English, and the verb grew out of its stem, so "wolving" reads as the animal's appetite put into action. Because the verb's form is built from the stem of "wolf," the word carries its meaning with it: to eat like a wolf.