pappare

Pappare is an informal Italian verb meaning to eat quickly and greedily, to stuff oneself with food. It is commonly used in colloquial speech and often carries a humorous or slightly crude nuance. The verb can be transitive, as in pappare qualcosa (to scarf down something), or intransitive, as in si è pappato tutto (he devoured everything).

The noun pappa refers to soft food or infant feeding, and the related term una pappata denotes a large amount of food eaten in one sitting. Etymologically, pappare derives from pappa, meaning pap or mush, and the sense of eating rapidly arises from the image of swallowing soft food.

Grammatical notes: pappare follows the regular -are conjugation pattern in standard Italian. Present indicative forms include io papp-o, tu papp-i, lui/lei papp-a, noi papp-iamo, voi papp-ate, loro papp-ano. The past participle is pappato, used with avere in compound tenses (ho pappato qualcosa) or with reflexive forms (mi sono pappato tutto).

Usage and register: due to its informal tone, pappare is more common in spoken language, casual writing, or humorous contexts. It is generally avoided in formal or literary writing in favor of verbs like mangiare voracemente or consumare. The term can convey exuberance or indulgence in food, and it is sometimes used playfully in media and everyday conversation.