eat
verb (used with object)
to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment; chew and swallow (food).
eat
American
[eet]
/ it /
verb (used with object)
-
eats,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ate,
past
-
eat,
past (Archaic)
-
eaten,
past participle
-
eating
present participle
-
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.
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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.
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to absorb or pay for.
The builder had to eat the cost of the repairs.
-
Slang: Vulgar. to perform cunnilingus or fellatio on.
verb (used without object)
-
eats,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ate,
past
-
eat,
past (Archaic)
-
eaten,
past participle
-
eating
present participle
-
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.
noun
verb phrase
-
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.
idioms
-
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.
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eat someone's lunch, to thoroughly defeat, outdo, injure, etc.
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eat in, to eat or dine at home.
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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.
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eat out of one's hand. hand.
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eat clean. clean.
-
eat high off the hog. hog.
eat
1
British
/ iːt /
verb
-
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)
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to brood or pine with grief or longing
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to take back something said; recant; retract
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to be entirely obedient to someone
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to ruin someone, esp one's parent or one's host, by consuming all his food
EAT
2
British
abbreviation
eat
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
eatsimple
-
eatssimple
-
have eatenperfect
-
has eatenperfect
-
am eatingprogressive
-
are eatingprogressive
-
is eatingprogressive
-
have been eatingperfect progressive
-
has been eatingperfect progressive
Past
-
atesimple
-
eatsimple
-
had eatenperfect
-
was eatingprogressive
-
were eatingprogressive
-
had been eatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of eat
First recorded before 900; Middle English eten, Old English etan; cognate with German essen, Gothic itan, Latin edere, esse, Homeric Greek édein
Explanation
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.
Vocabulary lists containing eat
3-letter words, List 1
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3-letter words, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If you’re looking to change up the way you eat, the Mediterranean diet is a great choice — and there’s plenty of research to back that up.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
"A person earning minimum wage doesn't have the means to eat well or have a decent quality of life," said Ramos.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Then he started to grow and eat and eat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
"I really worried about having to be on my own," says Izzy Garcez, 20, who thought she would miss spending evenings with her family and having people to eat and watch TV with.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Instead, I bake more banana chocolate chip muffins than Mom and I can eat, and I watch This Is Us on repeat.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Brinker EAT -3.72%decrease; red down pointing triangle International reported higher fiscal third-quarter profit as its Chili’s chain continued to draw customers seeking affordability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
This fall, EAT will once again present their biannual new works series, to include dozens of new plays, musicals, dance pieces and cabaret performances.
From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2022
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
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
Nvidia’s earnings call later this month could give Wall Street and investors “critically needed assurance on its go-forward role in vendor financing,” Arya said, which eats into its free cash flow.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Now she injects insulin twice a day, monitors what she eats, and despite missing the spontaneity of her old life, is learning to adapt to her new one.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Slaton told The Times that the secondhand market eats into Nike’s profit margins, while at the same time creating soaring demand for their products.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
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
“Including the kind that eats hang gliders,” Percy guessed.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
What I didn’t mention was that I ate the first quarter of my bowl standing up, at the bar top between my kitchen and the little alcove where our two-person table sits.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
It was first popularized in the 1970s by an American researcher who noticed how people ate and lived in parts of Italy and Greece.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
He ate a piece of bread and a slice of cheese, opening and shutting his refrigerator door quickly to preserve the cold air.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
I had to get to know myself better so I traveled, ate good food and watched movies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
That morning I ate two bowls of oatmeal, filling my belly to bursting.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
The percentage of consumers eating alone has been steadily growing in the U.S., with 43% of restaurant meals eaten solo in the 12 months ended in June, according to market-research firm Circana.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
In late January, the couple’s clutch of two eggs was eaten by ravens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Participants also completed four dietary recalls during the study describing what they had eaten during the previous 24 hours.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Most of the people had eaten between June 24 and July 2, Medus noted, while others said they had eaten at “a variety of other Mexican-style restaurants.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Her words were immediately eaten up by the freight train roar of the storm.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
That would mean people respond to lower costs simply by using the technology more, eating up just as much if not more computing power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
It’s a research-backed model for healthy eating, with wide-ranging health benefits like better brain and heart health, plus a lower risk of cancer and early death.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
His father, a former Marine, likes to cook, so everyone is watching Shields’ eating habits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
"I want to have a healthy lifestyle and get in shape, so I've stopped eating them," he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
And it seems to have been worth it—that girl is eating it up.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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.
