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

That will eat up a lot of operating cash flow.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

A newly minted dentist earns around $150,000 or more, but student loans eat up a lot of their take-home pay, especially in the early years.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

The increase in 2026 will also eat up over a quarter of Social Security’s 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 27, 2026

In previous research, Dr Luccioni has shown that such technologies eat up lots of energy.

From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025

The way they eat up my smothered chicken, corn, and mashed potatoes, you would’ve thought they’d never eaten before.

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles

Related Words

• swallow