eat
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eat
(ēt)v. ate (āt), eat·en (ēt′n), eat·ing, eats
v.tr.
1.
a. To take into the body by the mouth for digestion or absorption.
b. To take in and absorb as food: a plant that eats insects; a cell that eats bacteria.
c. To include habitually or by preference in one's diet: a bird that eats insects, fruit, and seeds; stopped eating red meat on advice from her doctor.
2. To destroy, ravage, or use up by or as if by ingesting: "Covering news in the field eats money" (George F. Will).
3. To erode or corrode: waves that ate away the beach; an acid that eats the surface of a machine part.
4. To produce by eating: Moths ate holes in our sweaters.
5. Slang To absorb the cost or expense of: "You can eat your loss and switch the remaining money to other investment portfolios" (Marlys Harris).
6. Informal To bother or annoy: What's eating him?
7. Vulgar slang To perform cunnilingus or anilingus on. Often used with out.
v.intr.
Phrasal Verb: 1.
a. To consume food.
b. To have or take a meal.
2. To exercise a consuming or eroding effect: a drill that ate away at the rock; exorbitant expenses that were eating into profits.
3. To cause persistent annoyance or distress: "How long will it be before the frustration eats at you?" (Howard Kaplan).
eat up Slang
Idioms: 1. To receive or enjoy enthusiastically or avidly: She really eats up the publicity.
2. To believe without question: He'll eat up whatever the broker tells him.
eat crow
To be forced to accept a humiliating defeat.
eat (one's) heart out
1. To feel bitter anguish or grief.
2. To be consumed by jealousy.
eat (one's) words
To retract something that one has said.
eat out of (someone's) hand
To be manipulated or dominated by another.
eat (someone) alive Slang
To overwhelm or defeat thoroughly: an inexperienced manager who was eaten alive in a competitive corporate environment.
eat′er n.
Synonyms: eat, consume, devour, ingest
These verbs mean to take food into the body by the mouth: ate a hearty dinner; greedily consumed the sandwich; hyenas devouring their prey; whales ingesting krill.
These verbs mean to take food into the body by the mouth: ate a hearty dinner; greedily consumed the sandwich; hyenas devouring their prey; whales ingesting krill.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
eat
(iːt)vb, eats, eating, ate or eaten
1. (Physiology) 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 by: into 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. (tr) informal to cause to worry; make anxious: what's eating you?.
8. (tr) slang to perform cunnilingus or fellatio upon
9. I'll eat my hat if informal I will be greatly surprised if (something happens that proves me wrong)
10. eat one's heart out to brood or pine with grief or longing
11. eat one's words to take back something said; recant; retract
12. eat out of someone's hand to be entirely obedient to someone
13. eat someone out of house and home to ruin someone, esp one's parent or one's host, by consuming all his food
[Old English etan; related to Gothic itan, Old High German ezzan, Latin edere, Greek edein, Sanskrit admi]
ˈeater n
EAT
orEAZ
abbreviation for
Tanzania (international car registration)
[from E(ast) A(frica) T(anganyika) or E(ast) A(frica) Z(anzibar)]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
eat
(it)v. ate (eɪt; esp. Brit. ɛt) eat•en (ˈit n) eat•ing, v.t.
1. to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment; chew and swallow (food).
2. to consume gradually; wear away; corrode.
3. to use up, esp. wastefully (often fol. by away, into, or up): Unexpected expenses ate up their savings.
4. to make (a hole, passage, etc.), as by gnawing or corrosion.
5. to ravage or devastate.
6. to absorb or pay for: The builder had to eat the cost of the repairs.
7. to cause anxiety or irritation in; worry; bother: What's eating you now?
v.i. 8. to consume food; have a meal.
9. to make a way, as by gnawing or corrosion: Acid ate through the linoleum.
10. eat in, to eat or dine at home.
11. eat out, to have a meal at a restaurant rather than at home.
12. eat up,
n. a. to consume wholly.
b. to show enthusiasm for; take pleasure in.
c. to believe without question.
13. eats, Informal. food.
[before 900; Middle English; Old English etan]
eat′er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
eat
Past participle: eaten
Gerund: eating
| Imperative |
|---|
| eat |
| eat |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Verb | 1. | eat - take in solid food; "She was eating a banana"; "What did you eat for dinner last night?" ingest, consume, have, take in, take - serve oneself to, or consume regularly; "Have another bowl of chicken soup!"; "I don't take sugar in my coffee" eat - eat a meal; take a meal; "We did not eat until 10 P.M. because there were so many phone calls"; "I didn't eat yet, so I gladly accept your invitation" wash down - eat food accompanied by lots of liquid; also use metaphorically; "She washed down her dinner with a bottle of red wine"; "He washes down his worries with a nightly glass of whisky" slurp - eat noisily; "He slurped his soup" fare - eat well garbage down, gobble up, shovel in, bolt down - eat a large amount of food quickly; "The children gobbled down most of the birthday cake" nibble, piece, pick - eat intermittently; take small bites of; "He pieced at the sandwich all morning"; "She never eats a full meal--she just nibbles" ruminate - chew the cuds; "cows ruminate" eat, feed - take in food; used of animals only; "This dog doesn't eat certain kinds of meat"; "What do whales eat?" eat up, polish off, finish - finish eating all the food on one's plate or on the table; "She polished off the remaining potatoes" consume, down, devour, go through - eat immoderately; "Some people can down a pound of meat in the course of one meal" |
| 2. | eat - eat a meal; take a meal; "We did not eat until 10 P.M. because there were so many phone calls"; "I didn't eat yet, so I gladly accept your invitation" ingest, consume, have, take in, take - serve oneself to, or consume regularly; "Have another bowl of chicken soup!"; "I don't take sugar in my coffee" take away, take out - buy and consume food from a restaurant or establishment that sells prepared food; "We'll take out pizza, since I am too tired to cook" victual - take in nourishment dine - have supper; eat dinner; "We often dine with friends in this restaurant" picnic - eat alfresco, in the open air; "We picnicked near the lake on this gorgeous Sunday" eat - take in solid food; "She was eating a banana"; "What did you eat for dinner last night?" break bread - have a meal, usually with company; "The early Christian disciples broke bread together" mess - eat in a mess hall lunch - take the midday meal; "At what time are you lunching?" brunch - eat a meal in the late morning; "We brunch in Sundays" breakfast - eat an early morning meal; "We breakfast at seven" binge, englut, engorge, glut, gorge, gormandise, gormandize, gourmandize, ingurgitate, overeat, overgorge, overindulge, pig out, scarf out, satiate, stuff - overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself; "She stuffed herself at the dinner"; "The kids binged on ice cream" eat up, polish off, finish - finish eating all the food on one's plate or on the table; "She polished off the remaining potatoes" | |
| 3. | eat - take in food; used of animals only; "This dog doesn't eat certain kinds of meat"; "What do whales eat?" ingest, consume, have, take in, take - serve oneself to, or consume regularly; "Have another bowl of chicken soup!"; "I don't take sugar in my coffee" eat - take in solid food; "She was eating a banana"; "What did you eat for dinner last night?" forage - wander and feed; "The animals forage in the woods" raven - feed greedily; "The lions ravened the bodies" suckle - suck milk from the mother's breasts; "the infant was suckling happily" | |
| 4. | eat - worry or cause anxiety in a persistent way; "What's eating you?" | |
| 5. | eat - use up (resources or materials); "this car consumes a lot of gas"; "We exhausted our savings"; "They run through 20 bottles of wine a week" run out - exhaust the supply of; "We ran out of time just as the discussion was getting interesting" drain - deplete of resources; "The exercise class drains me of energy" spend - spend completely; "I spend my pocket money in two days" | |
| 6. | eat - cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid; "The acid corroded the metal"; "The steady dripping of water rusted the metal stopper in the sink" damage - inflict damage upon; "The snow damaged the roof"; "She damaged the car when she hit the tree" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
eat
verb
eat into something use up, drain, exhaust, consume, deplete, devour, swallow up His work responsibilities were eating into his free time.
eat something away destroy, dissolve, crumble, rot, decay, erode, wear down, corrode, bite into, waste away, wear away The rot is eating away the interior of the house.
Related words
like phagomania
like phagomania
Quotations
"One should eat to live, and not live to eat" [Molière L'Avare]
"One should eat to live, and not live to eat" [Molière L'Avare]
Specific eating habits
Habit
| Food | |
|---|---|
| anthropophagic or anthropophagous | fellow humans |
| apivorous | bees |
| cannibalistic | other members of the same species |
| carnivorous | meat |
| carpophagous, frugivorous, or fruitarian | fruit |
| carrion | dead and rotting flesh |
| coprophagous | dung |
| geophagous | earth |
| herbivorous | plants |
| hylophagous | wood |
| insectivorous | insects |
| limivorous | mud |
| macrophagous | relatively large pieces of food |
| monophagous | only one food |
| mycetophagous | fungi |
| myrmecophagous | ants |
| nectarivorous | nectar |
| nucivorous | nuts |
| omnivorous | meat and plants |
| omophagic or omophagous | raw food |
| piscivorous | fish |
| theophagous | gods |
| vegan | no animal products |
| vegetarian | no flesh |
| zoophagous | animals |
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
eat
verb1. To take (food) into the body as nourishment:
Slang: chow.
Idioms: break bread, have a bite.
2. To do away with completely and destructively.Also used with up:
eat up
1. To eat completely or entirely:
Informal: polish off, put away.
2. To use all of:
Informal: polish off.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
أكليَأْكُليَأْكُلُ
jíst
spise
manĝi
sööma
خوردن
syödä
jesti
eszik
borîa
食べる
(...을) 먹다
edo
atsiimti savo žodžiusėstiįsiėstivalgomasvalgyti
ēst
mânca
jesť
jesti
jestiјести
äta
kula
รับประทาน
їсти
ăn
eat
[iːt] (ate (pt) (eaten (pp)))A. VT → comer
there's nothing to eat → no hay nada de or que comer
would you like something to eat? → ¿quieres comer algo?
he won't eat you → no te va a morder
what's eating you? → ¿qué mosca te ha picado?
to eat one's fill → hartarse
to eat one's lunch → comer, almorzar
to eat one's way through the menu → pedir todos los platos de la carta
he's eating us out of house and home → come por ocho
to eat one's words → tragarse las palabras
there's nothing to eat → no hay nada de or que comer
would you like something to eat? → ¿quieres comer algo?
he won't eat you → no te va a morder
what's eating you? → ¿qué mosca te ha picado?
to eat one's fill → hartarse
to eat one's lunch → comer, almorzar
to eat one's way through the menu → pedir todos los platos de la carta
he's eating us out of house and home → come por ocho
to eat one's words → tragarse las palabras
B. VI → comer
he eats like a horse → come más que una lima nueva
he always eats well → siempre tiene buen apetito
I've got him eating out of my hand → lo tengo dominado
he eats like a horse → come más que una lima nueva
he always eats well → siempre tiene buen apetito
I've got him eating out of my hand → lo tengo dominado
eat away at VI + PREP
1. [waves, sea] → desgastar; [acid, rust] → corroer; [rot, damp] → comerse; [mice etc] → roer; [insect pest] → comerse, devorar
2. (fig) → devorar
eat into VI + PREP (= wear away) → desgastar; [+ metal] [acid] → corroer; [+ savings] → mermar; [+ leisure time] → reducir
eat out
A. VI + ADV → comer fuera
B. VT + ADV to eat one's heart out → consumirse
I've written a novel: Marcel Proust, eat your heart out! → he escrito una novela: ¡chúpate esa, Marcel Proust!
I've written a novel: Marcel Proust, eat your heart out! → he escrito una novela: ¡chúpate esa, Marcel Proust!
eat up
A. VT + ADV [+ food] → comerse
it eats up electricity → consume mucha electricidad
to eat up the miles → tragar los kilómetros
to be eaten up with envy → consumirse de envidia
it eats up electricity → consume mucha electricidad
to eat up the miles → tragar los kilómetros
to be eaten up with envy → consumirse de envidia
B. VI + ADV eat up! → ¡venga, come!, ¡apúrate! (LAm)
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
eat
[ˈiːt] [ate] (pt) [eaten] (pp) vt
[+ food] → manger
Would you like something to eat? → Est-ce que tu veux manger quelque chose?
to eat lunch (US) → déjeuner
to have sb eating out of one's hand (under one's control) → faire manger qn dans sa main
Would you like something to eat? → Est-ce que tu veux manger quelque chose?
to eat lunch (US) → déjeuner
to have sb eating out of one's hand (under one's control) → faire manger qn dans sa main
vi → manger
eat away
vt sep vi → manger au restaurant
vt sep
vi
come along, eat up! → allons, mangez !
come along, eat up! → allons, mangez !
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
eat
vb: pret <ate>, ptp <eaten>vt (person) → essen, fressen (pej inf); (animal) → fressen; to eat one’s breakfast → frühstücken; to eat one’s lunch/dinner → zu Mittag/Abend essen; he ate his way through … → er aß sich durch …; he’s eating us out of house and home (inf) → der isst or frisst uns noch arm or die Haare vom Kopf (inf); to eat one’s words → (alles,) was man gesagt hat, zurücknehmen; he was forced to eat his words → er musste alles zurücknehmen; he won’t eat you (inf) → er wird dich schon nicht fressen (inf); what’s eating you? (inf) → was hast du denn? ? alive a
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
eat
[iːt] (ate (vb: pt) (eaten (pp)))1. vt (food) → mangiare
to eat one's fill → mangiare a sazietà
he's eating us out of house and home (fam) → è un mangiapane a tradimento
he won't eat you (fam) → non ti mangia mica
what's eating you? (fam) → che cosa ti rode?
to eat one's words (fig) → rimangiarsi quello che si è detto
to eat one's fill → mangiare a sazietà
he's eating us out of house and home (fam) → è un mangiapane a tradimento
he won't eat you (fam) → non ti mangia mica
what's eating you? (fam) → che cosa ti rode?
to eat one's words (fig) → rimangiarsi quello che si è detto
2. vi → mangiare
he eats like a horse → mangia come un lupo
I've got him eating out of my hand → pende dalle mie labbra, fa tutto quello che voglio io
he eats like a horse → mangia come un lupo
I've got him eating out of my hand → pende dalle mie labbra, fa tutto quello che voglio io
eat away at vi + prep → rodere
eat in vi + adv → mangiare a casa
eat out
1. vi + adv → mangiare fuori
eat up
1. vt + adv (meal) → finire di mangiare
it eats up electricity → consuma un sacco di corrente
this car eats up the miles → questa macchina macina i chilometri
it eats up electricity → consuma un sacco di corrente
this car eats up the miles → questa macchina macina i chilometri
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
eat
(iːt) – past tense ate (et eit; (American) eit) : past participle ˈeaten – verb to (chew and) swallow; to take food. They are forbidden to eat meat; They ate up all the cakes; We must eat to live.
ˈeatable (negative uneatable) adjective fit to be eaten. The meal was scarcely eatable.
noun (in plural) food. Cover all eatables to keep mice away.
eat into to destroy or waste gradually. Acid eats into metal; The school fees have eaten into our savings.
eat one's words to admit humbly that one was mistaken in saying something. I'll make him eat his words!
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
eat
→ يَأْكُلُ jíst spise essen τρώω comer syödä manger jesti mangiare 食べる (...을) 먹다 eten spise zjeść comer есть äta รับประทาน yemek ăn 吃Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
eat
vi. comer, sustentarse, ingerir alimentos;
to ___ breakfast → desayunar, tomar el desayuno;
to ___ lunch → almorzar; tomar el almuerzo;
to ___ supper → cenar.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
- Is there somewhere to eat on the boat?
- What would you like to eat?
- Do you eat meat?
- Would you like something to eat?
Collins Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
eat
vt, vi (pret ate; pp eaten) comerEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.