transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English eten up, from eten to eat + up
1. : to eat completely and without delay
eat up your dinner before it gets cold
the locusts ate up the bean crop
2. : distress , strain , exhaust
a tedious monotonous job eats a person up
3. : to consume entirely
her savings were eaten up by illness
a man so eaten up with vanity as to be scarcely human
4. slang : to exhibit avid interest in or enjoyment of
the crowd ate up the maudlin scene
the jury will eat up the lurid testimony
even sensible men ate up the chance to get in on such a good thing