eatery
Americannoun
noun
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.
She says: "What they absolutely and must do is make sure that nobody suffers from any situations in their restaurant, eatery or cafe, they are legally obliged to protect the customers."
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
In-house dining services provided by the eatery are also available to those living within the building.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026
The French Laundry, the three-Michelin-starred restaurant helmed by renown chef Thomas Keller, has been sued by a former employee who alleges wage theft and other labor law violations at the Yountville, Calif., eatery.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
"It is not ICE. It's just a person picking up takeout. Normal human," she said after a man left an eatery and got into the car.
From Barron's • Jan. 28, 2026
Often, Bobby walked barely two blocks from his apartment to one of his favorite restaurants, Anestu Grösum—“The First Vegetarian”—and climbed the stairway to the pumpkin-painted second-floor eatery.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions 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.
