eat

eat

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 ↑cake¹(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.’ | 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. | 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. | We gorged ourselves on my mother’s delicious apple tart.
▪ slurp to eat soup, ↑noodles 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! | 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. | 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