gobble up

gobble up — phrasal verb

  • gobble upbase form
  • gobbles up3rd person singular
  • gobbling up-ing form
  • gobbled uppast simple

1. to eat something very quickly and eagerly, often taking large mouthfuls because

1.片語動詞及物A2
釋義

to eat something very quickly and eagerly, often taking large mouthfuls because you are very hungry or you like the taste a lot.

例句

The children gobbled up the pizza before their parents even sat down at the table.

noun phrase object after up: gobbled up the pizza

Yuki was so hungry after the hike that she gobbled her rice bowl up in under two minutes.

object between verb and particle: gobbled her rice bowl up

同義詞
  • devour

    more formal; suggests eating with great enthusiasm

  • wolf down

    informal; emphasises eating very fast, often with bad table manners

反義詞
  • nibble

    eat in very small amounts, slowly

文法句型

gobble + up + object

gobble + object + up

用法筆記

The object can go either before or after 'up', but when the object is a pronoun (it, them), it must come between the verb and 'up': 'He gobbled it up' (NOT 'He gobbled up it').

常見錯誤

❌He gobbled up it in five seconds.
✅He gobbled it up in five seconds.
💡Pronouns must always come between the verb and 'up'.

2. to use a large amount of something very quickly, especially money, time, fuel, o

2.片語動詞及物B1
釋義

to use a large amount of something very quickly, especially money, time, fuel, or other resources, often leaving little or nothing left.

例句

The unexpected car repairs gobbled up nearly all of our savings for the month.

gobbled up + noun phrase (all of our savings)

This old heating system gobbles energy up faster than the modern one we looked at.

particle after object: gobbles energy up

同義詞
  • consume

    more neutral; can describe normal or expected usage

  • eat into

    idiom; suggests gradually reducing a resource

  • swallow up

    similar meaning but emphasises complete disappearance

反義詞
  • save

    keep resources for later use

  • conserve

    use resources carefully to avoid waste

文法句型

gobble + up + noun (resource)

gobble + noun + up

用法筆記

Subject is often an expense, a machine, or a habit; the thing consumed is typically a limited resource such as money, time, or fuel. Distinguished from Sense 1 because the subject is not a person eating.

常見錯誤

❌The project gobbled up.
✅The project gobbled up our budget.
💡This phrasal verb is always transitive; you must state what is being used up.

3. when a larger company or organisation buys and takes control of a smaller one, u

3.片語動詞及物B2
釋義

when a larger company or organisation buys and takes control of a smaller one, usually absorbing it into its own operations.

例句

The retail chain has gobbled up three bookshops in Tokyo over the past two years.

gobbled up + number + noun phrase

Local shop owners worry the big corporation will gobble their businesses up one by one.

object between verb and particle: gobble their businesses up

同義詞
  • take over

    broader meaning; can apply to any form of acquisition

  • acquire

    formal business term for buying a company

  • absorb

    emphasises that the smaller company loses its separate identity

反義詞
  • spin off

    create a separate company from part of a larger one

文法句型

gobble + up + company/business

gobble + company + up

用法筆記

Subject is always an organisation (company, chain, group), never an individual person. The smaller target is typically a competitor, start-up, or local business that cannot resist the takeover.

常見錯誤

❌The manager gobbled up the small shop next door.
✅The supermarket chain gobbled up the small shop next door.
💡The subject should be an organisation, not an individual.