/ iːt; NAmE / verb ( ate / et; NAmE ; especially NAmE eɪt/, eaten / ˈiːtn; NAmE /)
1.
to put food in your mouth, chew it and swallow it :
[ v ]
I was too nervous to eat.
She doesn't eat sensibly (= doesn't eat food that is good for her) .
[ vn ]
I don't eat meat.
Would you like something to eat?
I couldn't eat another thing (= I have had enough food) .
2.
[ v ] to have a meal :
Where shall we eat tonight?
We ate at a pizzeria in town.
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IDIOMS
- eat sb alive
- eat, drink and be merry
- eat your heart out!
- eat your heart out (for sb/sth)
- eat humble pie
- eat like a horse
- eat out of your / sb's hand
- eat sb out of house and home
- eat your words
- I could eat a horse
- I'll eat my hat
- what's eating him, etc.?
—more at cake noun , dog noun
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PHRASAL VERBS
- eat sth away
- eat away at sth/sb
- eat into sth
- eat out
- eat up | eat sth up
- eat sb up
- eat sth up
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WORD ORIGIN
Old English etan , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch eten and German essen , from an Indo-European root shared by Latin edere and Greek edein .