eatery
Americannoun
-
eateries
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of eatery
Explanation
Use the word eatery when you're talking about a cafe or restaurant. You might stop at a great local eatery for a burger after seeing a movie. Eatery is a casual or informal word for a place to buy and eat prepared food. A diner is one kind of eatery, and a Chinese restaurant is another. You might have a favorite eatery among all the choices on a college campus, or know of an all-night eatery where you can get a snack at three a.m. Eatery was first used right around 1901, from eat, with its Old English root of etan, "to eat, devour, or consume."
Vocabulary lists containing eatery
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.
See Examples For:
The 38-year-old San Fernando Valley native, who is an avid fan of 1950s and ’60s style, lamented the loss of a long-tenured eatery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Many customers came over to the table to pick up a shirt and share the many fond memories of the eatery with Wong-Young.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Pinky Cubacub, 55, said as she boarded up the windows of her eatery in Guam that she had lined up early on Saturday morning to buy $500 worth of plywood at a lumber store.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
Today, the first-floor eatery serves classic American comfort food, while the tavern features an original 1920 bar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
"The newly decorated restaurant, Hoo's On First, the eatery of athletes, will hold its grand reopening on Sunday. Specialty of the day: fruited sea bass on purple waves."
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
The supply at the eateries was traced back to a Taylor Farms facility in Central Mexico.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
Investigations into individual cases also suggest the eateries involved were buying eggs from abroad.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
It typically charged the eateries $1 per diner seated, as well as software fees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
And while business manager visa holders have a three-year grace period to meet the new conditions, some thriving businesses -- including many popular eateries in Okubo -- fear they won't manage.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
I loved all the stalls and the small eateries selling different kinds of food.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
