to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment; chew and swallow (food).
to consume by or as if by devouring gradually; wear away; corrode.
The patient was eaten by disease and pain.
to make (a hole, passage, etc.), as by gnawing or corrosion.
to ravage or devastate.
a forest eaten by fire.
to use up, especially wastefully; consume (often followed byup ).
Unexpected expenses have been eating up their savings.
to absorb or pay for.
The builder had to eat the cost of the repairs.
Slang: Vulgar. to perform cunnilingus or fellatio on.
to consume food; take a meal.
We'll eat at six o'clock.
to make a way, as by gnawing or corrosion.
Acid ate through the linoleum.
eat away / into to destroy gradually, as by erosion.
For eons, the pounding waves ate away at the shoreline.
eat up
to consume wholly.
to show enthusiasm for; take pleasure in.
The audience ate up everything he said.
to believe without question.
eat out to have a meal at a restaurant rather than at home.
be eating someone, to worry, annoy, or bother.
Something seems to be eating him—he's been wearing a frown all day.
eat one's words. word.
eat one's heart out. heart.
eat someone's lunch, to thoroughly defeat, outdo, injure, etc.
eat in, to eat or dine at home.
eat someone out of house and home, to eat so much as to strain someone's resources of food or money.
A group of hungry teenagers can eat you out of house and home.
eat one's terms. term.
eat crow. crow.
eat the wind out of, to blanket (a sailing vessel sailing close-hauled) by sailing close on the weather side of.
eat humble pie. humble pie.
eat out of one's hand. hand.
eat clean. clean.
eat high off the hog. hog.
to take into the mouth and swallow (food, etc), esp after biting and chewing
(tr; often foll by away or up) to destroy as if by eating
the damp had eaten away the woodwork
(often foll by into) to use up or waste
taxes ate into his inheritance
to make (a hole, passage, etc) by eating or gnawing
rats ate through the floor
to take or have (a meal or meals)
we always eat at six
(tr) to include as part of one's diet
he doesn't eat fish
informal (tr) to cause to worry; make anxious
what's eating you?
slang (tr) to perform cunnilingus or fellatio upon
informal I will be greatly surprised if (something happens that proves me wrong)
to brood or pine with grief or longing
to take back something said; recant; retract
to be entirely obedient to someone
to ruin someone, esp one's parent or one's host, by consuming all his food
First recorded before 900; Middle English eten, Old English etan; cognate with German essen, Gothic itan, Latin edere, esse, Homeric Greek édein
If you leave an antique flowerpot outside all winter, the snow and rain might eat the paint, making it look even older than it is. You probably know that eat means "to consume food," because you do that several times a day. But we also use the verb eat for other situations involving using something up or wearing it down. If your art project eats up all your art supplies, that means you don't have any left. Leaving your car lights on will eat through your battery. Something eating away at us is worrying us. Don't let money stress eat away at your happiness.
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Behind him some eat or line up for coffee, while others try to rest on air mattresses or sleeping mats.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
In its update on Friday, the CDC warned people not to eat recalled iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms that sourced from central Mexico.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
St. Camillus gives each student a monthly credit to use at the restaurants to encourage them to eat with the residents.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
“The eagle continues to perch and eat, and there is slight improvement in her energy,” says the center’s Eliza Cameron in the post.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
There were, of course, fungi one should never eat.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Since the beginning of pandemic, Pret has closed 39 shops in the UK, as well as 33 EAT outlets, which it also owns.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2021
This is a lovely review, that describes food in a lovely, painterly way - but having read it twice, does any of this sound like food you'd want to, well, y'know, EAT?
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2016
Chili’s Grill & Bar operator Brinker International Inc. EAT 0.82 % blamed low oil prices for weak results in some states that rely heavily on the energy industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2015
EAT: If you’re in the shrinking middle class, your earnings after taxes might leave you barely able to do this.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 21, 2015
Along the way, they’d pass a manhole cover on which someone had spray-painted DO NOT EAT THIS!
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
Summer, a season of good eats and fresh produce, has been tainted by a rampant parasitic outbreak that’s made us all scared to indulge in a generous plate of Caesar salad.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
"I can't do this for life because it eats away at my body," says Kim, a Coupang driver on a sub-contract, who did not want to share his real name.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
You don’t have to spend big to explore St. Tropez’s picturesque back streets, beaches and local eats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
"It's very unusual for a spider to feed on ants, because they're notoriously dangerous, and even more bizarre to find a spider that eats only one particular ant species," said Professor Narendra.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
Chin eats an apple-butter-and-pickle sandwich, like she does every day.
From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins
Nearly 2,000 people who ate food from Taco Bell have been sickened in those nine states during the outbreak, the agency said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Let’s go talk to those people and find out exactly what they ate.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
Brandon Brown, an epidemiologist and professor of medicine with the UC Riverside School of Medicine, contracted the illness in 2018 from what he believes was a salad he ate during a trip.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
It is not clear if anyone who ate at Taco Bell has become sick, WWJ said, as cases of cyclosporiasis rise in the state and elsewhere.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
“So we started making people believe that we ate humans so they’d leave us alone,” said Bork.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Courtesy of Loves Food Loves to Eat and shared by Food52, this recipe serves two when eaten as a meal and four to six when enjoyed as a side.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Many people who have been sick have eaten parsley, cilantro and lettuce, officials said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Though he's never been officially diagnosed, he has eaten raspberries – on the list of foods to watch – the only produce he's had in months.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Their meat is a delicacy widely eaten locally, while their fins command high prices in international markets.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
“You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten Nicole’s sweet potato pie.”
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
When the fire alerts sounded on telephones, "I thought everything was going to burn, the house and everything," she said at the sports hall, where they sat dozing and eating snacks.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
In mice, the medications reduced hedonic feeding, which means eating for enjoyment rather than because the body needs energy.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
However, she is eating and even fighting with care staff, according to an educational nonprofit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Michelle is still eating fruits and vegetables, but only ones she cooks.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
All we’d been eating were the few fish we’d managed to poach from Cunningham’s stream and once in a while a wild onion or an old potato.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
