eat out
Britishverb
-
Have a meal outside one's home, usually at a restaurant. For example, We're almost out of groceries, so let's eat out tonight . [Second half of 1900s] For the antonym, see eat in .
-
eat someone out Also, eat someone up . Rebuke or scold someone sharply, as in He was always eating out the kids , or Why are you eating me up? I haven't done anything wrong . This slangy synonym for chew out probably originated as a euphemism for eat someone's ass out . It dates from the 1940s, the variant from the 1840s. Also see the subsequent entries beginning with eat out .
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.
Prof Whitty and Sir Patrick said they had not been consulted about the government's "Eat out to help out" scheme, despite Mr Johnson's earlier claim in written evidence that it had been "properly discussed".
From BBC • Nov. 28, 2023
His "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme, it has already emerged, was branded "Eat out to help the virus" by government medics.
From BBC • Nov. 4, 2023
Eat out a dozen meals a week for work and you, too, might relish the occasional breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner or bar stop with just your own company.
From Washington Post • May 9, 2017
Eat out less, cut back on entertainment, quit buying top-of-the-line items, and refrain from using credit cards, suggests Scott.
From BusinessWeek • Jul. 7, 2011
Scorn everlasting and eternal shame Eat out the rotting record of his name Who had the glory of all these graves in trust And turned it to a hissing.
From Songs of the Springtides and Birthday Ode Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles Swinburne—Vol. III by Swinburne, Algernon Charles
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.
