eating
Americannoun
-
the act of a person or thing that eats.
-
food with reference to its quality or tastiness when eaten.
This fish is delicious eating.
adjective
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used in eating.
They brought out plates and eating utensils for dinner.
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good or fit to eat, especially raw.
A sweet, crisp Gala is the perfect eating apple for a summer salad.
noun
adjective
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relating to or suitable for eating, esp uncooked
eating pears
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relating to or for eating
an eating house
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of eating
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English; eat ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun senses; eat ( def. ) + -ing 2 for the adjective senses
Explanation
Eating is the act of consuming food. It would be nice to have lunch in the library instead of the cafeteria — but unfortunately, they don't allow any eating in there. The process of taking food in through your mouth — biting, chewing, tasting, swallowing — is eating. Figuratively, eating can also mean "wasting or destroying," the way rust consumes metal or anxiety gradually destroys a person's mental health. As an adjective, eating means "used for consuming," as in a set of eating utensils, complete with a spoon, fork, and knife. The Germanic etan, "consume or devour," is the root of eating.
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.
That diet was also the most similar to what participants had been eating before the study began.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 16, 2026
Thomas Tuchel regrets not eating any of the grass at the Azteca Stadium after England's World Cup win against Mexico.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
I’ve come to think of it as a practical, action-oriented cousin of intuitive eating, a framework I find genuinely generous but occasionally maddening in its abstraction.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
While they are not worried about 2027 earnings per share, they expressed concerns that AI capital expenditure would slow, eating into 2028 earnings.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
All the time that Jimbo was eating the apple, I kept talking to him.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
