eat

[ eet ]

verb (used with object)

, ate [eyt, et] or (Archaic) eat [et, eet]; eat·en or (Archaic) eat [et, eet]; eat·ing.

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 by up ):

   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 [eyt, et] or (Archaic) eat [et, eet]; eat·en or (Archaic) eat [et, eet]; eat·ing.

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. eats, Informal. food.

verb phrase

1. to destroy gradually, as by erosion:

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

2. to have a meal at a restaurant rather than at home.
3. 1. to consume wholly.
   2. to show enthusiasm for; take pleasure in:

      The audience ate up everything he said.

   3. to believe without question.

EAT

¹

abbreviation for

1. Tanzania (international car registration)

eat

²

/ 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. often foll byinto or through 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. I'll eat my hat if informal.
   I'll eat my hat if I will be greatly surprised if (something happens that proves me wrong)
10. eat one's heart out
    eat one's heart out to brood or pine with grief or longing
11. eat one's words
    eat one's words to take back something said; recant; retract
12. eat out of someone's hand
    eat out of someone's hand to be entirely obedient to someone
13. eat someone out of house and home
    eat someone out of house and home to ruin someone, esp one's parent or one's host, by consuming all his food

Derived Forms

• ˈeater, noun

Other Words From

• eater noun
• outeat verb (used with object) outate outeaten outeating
• under·eat verb (used without object) underate undereaten undereating

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

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

Origin of eat²

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

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

2. eat in, to eat or dine at home.
3. eat the wind out of, Nautical. to blanket (a sailing vessel sailing close-hauled) by sailing close on the weather side of.
4. 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.

5. eat someone's lunch, Slang. to thoroughly defeat, outdo, injure, etc.
6. eat clean. clean ( def 51 ).
7. eat crow. crow ¹( def 7 ).
8. eat high off the hog. hog ( def 16 ).
9. eat humble pie. humble pie ( def 3 ).
10. eat one's heart out. heart ( def 26 ).
11. eat one's terms. term ( def 17 ).
12. eat one's words. word ( def 17 ).
13. eat out of one's hand. hand ( def 50 ).

More idioms and phrases containing eat

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

Example Sentences

The Eat Voraciously newsletter tells you what to eat for dinner four nights a week, along with ideas for substitutions based on your preferences and what you have in your pantry.

From Washington Post

Hannah Bae is one-half of Eat Drink Draw, a food writing-and-illustration collaboration with her husband, Adam Oelsner.

From Eater

Get the Eat Voraciously recipe newsletter and solve the daily dinner dilemmaPrime Rib Roast With Roasted Beef Fat Vinaigrette.

From Washington Post

Sprinkled among the family-friendly eats are dishes that hark to Hill’s fine dining days at Charlie Palmer Steak and the late Range.

From Washington Post

It’s nestled between a handful of other quick eats, bars and restaurants.

From Washington Post

Two Indonesian airlines, Garuda and Lion Air, have seen Fernandes eat their lunch and are only now responding.

From The Daily Beast

Still, I wish that DuVernay had given us more about those who are less famous besides a scene where they all eat dinner together.

From The Daily Beast

Tribole tells her patients not to change what they eat but how.

From The Daily Beast

Now, his new book “The Bulletproof Diet,” claims to offer a weight loss solution that lets you have your butter, and eat it too.

From The Daily Beast

I try to eat less processed food, like whole grains, fruits and vegetables, nothing over-processed.

From The Daily Beast

You see Squinty, like most little pigs, thought more of something to eat than of anything else.

From Project Gutenberg

Jean clung to his English nurse, who played the fascinating game of pretending to eat his hand.

From Project Gutenberg

I mean it is well my mother is ill, and doesn't wish to eat, for there would be nothing for her, if she did.

From Project Gutenberg

Many of his bird neighbors,p. 31 for instance, liked the same things to eat that he did.

From Project Gutenberg

That was because he was hungry, you see, but pigs nearly always eat fast, as though they were continually in a hurry.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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