Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - gobble up

1. If an organization gobbles up a smaller organization, it takes control of it or destroys it. Banc One of Ohio has built an empire in the mid-west by gobbling up smaller banks. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P 2. To gobble up something such as money means to use or waste a lot of it. The firm’s expenses gobbled up 44% of revenues. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P 3. see also gobble