eat

[eet]

verb (used with object)

ate , eat, eaten , eat, eating .

1. to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment; chew and swallow (food).

2. to consume by or as if by devouring gradually; wear away; corrode.

   The patient was eaten by disease and pain.

3. to make (a hole, passage, etc.), as by gnawing or corrosion.

4. to ravage or devastate.

   a forest eaten by fire.

5. to use up, especially wastefully; consume (often followed byup ).

   Unexpected expenses have been eating up their savings.

6. to absorb or pay for.

   The builder had to eat the cost of the repairs.

7. Slang: Vulgar.,  to perform cunnilingus or fellatio on.

verb (used without object)

ate , eat, eaten , eat, eating .

1. to consume food; take a meal.

   We'll eat at six o'clock.

2. to make a way, as by gnawing or corrosion.

   Acid ate through the linoleum.

noun

1. Informal.,  eats, food.

verb phrase

1. eat away / into,  to destroy gradually, as by erosion.

   For eons, the pounding waves ate away at the shoreline.

2. eat up

   1. to consume wholly.

   2. to show enthusiasm for; take pleasure in.

      The audience ate up everything he said.

   3. to believe without question.

3. eat out,  to have a meal at a restaurant rather than at home.

eat

¹

/ iːt /

verb

1. to take into the mouth and swallow (food, etc), esp after biting and chewing

2. (tr; often foll by away or up) to destroy as if by eating

   the damp had eaten away the woodwork

3. (often foll by into) to use up or waste

   taxes ate into his inheritance

4. to make (a hole, passage, etc) by eating or gnawing

   rats ate through the floor

5. to take or have (a meal or meals)

   we always eat at six

6. (tr) to include as part of one's diet

   he doesn't eat fish

7. informal,  (tr) to cause to worry; make anxious

   what's eating you?

8. slang,  (tr) to perform cunnilingus or fellatio upon

9. informal,  I will be greatly surprised if (something happens that proves me wrong)

10. to brood or pine with grief or longing

11. to take back something said; recant; retract

12. to be entirely obedient to someone

13. to ruin someone, esp one's parent or one's host, by consuming all his food

EAT

²

abbreviation

1. Tanzania (international car registration)

Other Word Forms

• eater noun
• outeat verb (used with object)
• undereat verb (used without object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of eat¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English eten, Old English etan; cognate with German essen, Gothic itan, Latin edere, esse, Homeric Greek édein

Word History and Origins

Origin of eat¹

Old English etan; related to Gothic itan, Old High German ezzan, Latin edere, Greek edein, Sanskrit admi

Origin of eat²

from E(ast) A(frica) T(anganyika) or E(ast) A(frica) Z(anzibar)

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. be eating someone, to worry, annoy, or bother.

   Something seems to be eating him—he's been wearing a frown all day.

2. eat one's words. word.

3. eat one's heart out. heart.

4. eat someone's lunch, to thoroughly defeat, outdo, injure, etc.

5. eat in, to eat or dine at home.

6. 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.

7. eat one's terms. term.

8. eat crow. crow.

9. eat the wind out of, to blanket (a sailing vessel sailing close-hauled) by sailing close on the weather side of.

10. eat humble pie. humble pie.

11. eat out of one's hand. hand.

12. eat clean. clean.

13. eat high off the hog. hog.

More idioms and phrases containing eat

• dog eat dog
• proof of the pudding is in the eating
• what's eating you

Example Sentences

A common bacterium was genetically engineered to eat a plastic-derived molecule and then digest it to produce the everyday painkiller, paracetamol.

From BBC

If a poison tastes bad or causes any discomfort or pain to a rat, they will not eat more.

From BBC

For years, Henry ate at the same cafe on Santa Monica’s Montana Avenue.

From Los Angeles Times

Carr falls down stairs, eats a poisoned meal and contracts toxoplasmosis, which the show jokes could threaten his “freedom of speech.”

From Salon

This week's victims ate meals that included soy sauce chicken, fried tofu, vegetables and fruit – but past poisoning incidents have been linked to expired sauce and, in one case, the serving of fried shark.

From BBC

Related Words

• attack 
• bite 
• chew 
• devour 
• dine 
• feed 
• ingest 
• inhale 
• nibble 
• pick 
• swallow