eat up

British  

verb

1. (also intr) to eat or consume entirely: often used as an exhortation to children

2. informal to listen to with enthusiasm or appreciation

   the audience ate up the speaker's every word

3. informal (often passive) to affect grossly

   she was eaten up by jealousy

4. informal to travel (a distance) quickly

   we just ate up the miles

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eat up Idioms  

1. Consume completely, as in No television until you eat up your dinner , or This quarter's expenses have eaten up all my spare cash . The literal use (first example) dates from the early 1500s, the figurative from the early 1600s.

2. Enjoy avidly, as in She simply eats up the publicity . [Late 1800s]

3. Believe unquestioningly, be gullible, as in He'll eat up whatever the broker tells him . [ Slang ; early 1900s]

4. Defeat completely, as in This new fighter just eats up every opponent . [ Slang ; c. 1830]

5. See eat out , def. 2.

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Example Sentences

A single elephant can eat up to 600 pounds of vegetation and drink more than 50 gallons of water in a day.

From The Wall Street Journal

The tension between the two synthetics provides a delicious dissonance, making for a “Predator” film that leans hard into camp territory, with Fanning eating up every frame.

From Salon

Morris sounded like a gigantic beast chewing on glass as it ate up Nova’s house.

From Literature

A complete story may eat up five decades.

From The Wall Street Journal

Witmer: This pipe is particularly useful with sour crude, which eats up traditional steel pipe and has to be replaced regularly.

From Barron's