eat S1 W1 /iːt/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense ate /et, eɪt $ eɪt/, past participle eaten /ˈiːtn/)
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: etan ]
1 . FOOD [intransitive and transitive] to put food in your mouth and chew and swallow it:
Felix chatted cheerfully as he ate.
A small girl was eating an ice cream.
We had plenty to eat and drink.
It’s important to eat healthily when you are pregnant.
I exercise and eat right and get plenty of sleep.
Would you like something to eat?
She can eat like a horse and never put on weight.
We stopped at McDonalds to get a bite to eat.
Good eating habits are the best way of preventing infection.
ready-to-eat foods such as deli meats and cheeses
‘More cake?’ ‘No thanks, I couldn’t eat another thing.’
No chicken for me. I don’t eat meat (=I never eat meat) .
Does Rob eat fish?
2 . MEAL [intransitive and transitive] to have a meal:
Let’s eat first and then go to a movie.
They’re eating breakfast.
eat at
We could not afford to eat at Walker’s very often.
3 . eat your words to admit that what you said was wrong:
I’m going to make you eat your words.
4 . eat your heart out
a) used to say, especially humorously, that something is very good:
That’s a great drawing. Pablo Picasso eat your heart out!
b) British English to be unhappy about something or to want someone or something very much:
If you had any sense you’d forget him, but eat your heart out if you want to.
5 . eat somebody alive/eat somebody for breakfast to be very angry with someone or to defeat them completely:
You can’t tell him that – he’ll eat you alive!
6 . USE [transitive] to use a very large amount of something:
This car eats petrol.
7 . eat humble pie ( also eat crow American English ) to admit that you were wrong and say that you are sorry
8 . I’ll eat my hat used to emphasize that you think something is not true or will not happen:
If the Democrats win the election, I’ll eat my hat!
9 . have somebody eating out of your hand to have made someone very willing to believe you or do what you want:
He soon had the client eating out of his hand.
10 . eat somebody out of house and home to eat a lot of someone’s supply of food, so that they have to buy more – used humorously
11 . what’s eating somebody? spoken used to ask why someone seems annoyed or upset:
What’s eating Sally today?
12 . I could eat a horse spoken used to say you are very hungry
13 . I/we won’t eat you spoken used to tell someone that you are not angry with them and they need not be frightened
14 . you are what you eat used to say that you will be healthy if the food you eat is healthy
⇨ ↑ eats , ⇨ have your cake and eat it at ↑ cake 1 (6)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ nouns
▪ eat breakfast/lunch/dinner etc
What time do you usually eat lunch?
■ adverbs
▪ eat well (=have enough food, or have good food)
The people work hard, but they eat well.
▪ eat healthily/sensibly (=eat food that will keep you healthy)
If you eat healthily and exercise regularly, you’ll look and feel a lot better.
▪ eat properly British English , eat right American English (=eat food that will keep you healthy)
He hadn’t been eating properly and was drinking far too much.
▪ eat hungrily (=eat a lot quickly, because you are very hungry)
The children ate hungrily, devouring everything on their plate.
▪ eat sparingly (=eat very little)
Carter joined us for lunch, but ate sparingly, as he always did.
■ phrases
▪ have something/nothing to eat (=eat something/nothing)
We’ll leave after we’ve had something to eat.
▪ have enough/plenty etc to eat
Have you had enough to eat?
▪ have little to eat (=not have enough food)
The refugees had very little to eat and no clean water.
▪ find something to eat
I got dressed and went downstairs to find something to eat.
▪ get something to eat (=prepare or buy some food)
I’m sure you can get something to eat on the train.
▪ sb’s eating habits (=the kinds of things they eat or drink regularly)
The doctor asked me about my eating habits and how much I smoked.
▪ an eating disorder (=a mental illness which causes you to eat too much or too little)
She described her battle with the eating disorder bulimia.
▪ a bite to eat (=a small meal)
We should have time for a bite to eat before we set out.
▪ eat like a horse (=eat a lot)
She eats like a horse but never puts on any weight!
▪ eat like a bird (=eat very little)
Ever since she was a child, Jan had always eaten like a bird.
▪ I couldn’t eat another thing spoken (=used to say that you are completely full)
Thanks, that was lovely, but I couldn’t eat another thing.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ eat to put food in your mouth and chew and swallow it:
Experts recommend eating plenty of fruit and vegetables.
▪ have to eat a particular food:
‘What do you usually have for breakfast?’ ‘I usually just have coffee and toast.’
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We had the set meal.
▪ feed on something to eat a particular kind of food – used when talking about animals:
Foxes feed on a wide range of foods including mice, birds, insects, and fruit.
▪ consume written to eat or drink something – used especially in scientific or technical contexts:
Babies consume large amounts relative to their body weight.
▪ munch (on) something to eat something with big continuous movements of your mouth, especially when you are enjoying your food:
He was munching on an apple.
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They were sitting on a bench munching their sandwiches.
▪ nibble (on) something to eat something by biting off very small pieces:
If you want a healthy snack, why not just nibble on a carrot?
▪ pick at something to eat only a small amount of your food because you are not hungry or do not like the food:
Lisa was so upset that she could only pick at her food.
▪ stuff/gorge yourself to eat so much food that you cannot eat anything else:
He’s always stuffing himself with cakes.
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We gorged ourselves on my mother’s delicious apple tart.
▪ slurp to eat soup, ↑ noodle s etc with a noisy sucking sound:
In England it’s considered rude to slurp your soup, but in some countries it’s seen as a sign of enjoyment.
■ to eat something quickly
▪ gobble something up/down informal to eat something very quickly, especially because you like it very much or you are greedy:
You’ve gobbled up all the ice-cream!
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The children gobbled it down in no time.
▪ wolf something down informal to eat food quickly, especially because you are very hungry or in a hurry:
The boy wolfed down everything on his plate and asked for more.
▪ bolt something down British English to eat food very quickly, especially because you are in a hurry:
He bolted down his breakfast and was out of the door within 5 minutes.
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You shouldn’t bolt your food down like that.
▪ devour /dɪˈvaʊə $ -ˈvaʊr/ especially written to eat all of something quickly because you are very hungry:
In a very short time, the snake had devoured the whole animal.
■ to eat less food or stop eating
▪ be on a diet to be eating less or different food than normal in order to become thinner:
No cake thanks – I’m on a diet.
▪ fast to not eat for a period of time, often for religious reasons:
Muslim people fast during the month of Ramadan.
eat something ↔ away phrasal verb
to gradually remove or destroy something SYN erode :
The stones are being eaten away by pollution.
eat away at something/somebody phrasal verb
1 . to gradually remove or reduce the amount of something:
His gambling was eating away at their income.
2 . to make someone feel very worried over a long period of time:
The thought of mother alone like that was eating away at her.
eat in phrasal verb
to eat at home instead of in a restaurant
eat into something phrasal verb
1 . to gradually reduce the amount of time, money etc that is available:
John’s university fees have been eating into our savings.
2 . to gradually damage or destroy something:
Acid eats into the metal, damaging its surface.
eat out phrasal verb
to eat in a restaurant instead of at home:
Do you eat out a lot?
eat up phrasal verb
1 . to eat all of something:
Come on, eat up, there’s a good girl.
eat something ↔ up
She’s made a cake and wants us to help eat it up.
2 . eat something ↔ up informal to use a lot of something, especially until there is none left:
Big cars just eat up money.
3 . be eaten up with/by jealousy/anger/curiosity etc to be very jealous, angry etc, so that you cannot think about anything else