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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People who bought the affected product should not eat the product and should dispose of it as soon as possible.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
They’re vegetarians: They eat grass, alfalfa, cassava, sweet potato, carrots, beets, and, at the zoo, a commercial feed.
From Slate • May 27, 2026
We’ve all heard the advice: eat your fruit and vegetables, get your vitamins, and stay healthy.
From Science Daily • May 27, 2026
For starters, she would have to rent an apartment, which would probably eat up most of any Social Security benefits unless she had additional support.
From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026
Mutti asked me to take care of Marlene, and to make sure that she had something to eat and drink.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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.
