eat up

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

Idioms and Phrases

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.

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

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

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

See eat out , def. 2.

Example Sentences

Drilling generally eats up about half the cost of a typical new geothermal project, says Moore.

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New York followed that up by going three-and-out, eating up little more than a minute of clock in the process.

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All of those within the hive need fed and the Asian hornet can eat up to 50 honey bees a day.

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American companies, after eating up much of the cost, are increasingly passing some of the burden to consumers through increased prices.

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Bessembinder estimates that what he calls “frictions,” including swap costs, eat up an average of half a percentage point of return a month—more than 6 points annually.

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Related Words

• swallow