What it means
To eat something ridiculously fast and a bit greedily, like a wolf that thinks someone’s about to nick its dinner. You’re not just eating quickly, you’re inhaling it with no chat and barely a chew. Handy for calling out that mate who’s finished their full fry-up before you’ve even opened the crisps.
Usage examples
"He wolfed it down before the kettle clicked off. I’m still buttering toast and he’s already asking what’s for pud. Mental."
"My twelve-year-old in Bristol wolfed down two plates of spaghetti carbonara and half a baguette on Tuesday evening, then asked for ice cream like the previous half kilo of food had never existed in his stomach."
"Coach said the rowing team in Henley would wolf it down at the post-race brunch, three full English breakfasts disappeared in fifteen minutes and the waiter brought out a fourth round without being asked."
"You didn't even taste that burger, mate. You fully wolfed it down and now you're eyeing up my chips."
"She wolfed it down in the car park before the film started, then said she was still a bit peckish. Absolute machine."
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Where it comes from
It grows straight out of wolf used as a verb, meaning to eat hungrily and fast. That sense is recorded in English from the 19th century. Wolf down and wolf it down became everyday extensions after that, and the phrase is widely understood across both British and North American English.
Other ways to say it
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