eat meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

eat

verb

UK /iːt/ · US /it/

Etymology

From Middle English eten, from Old English etan (“to eat”), from Proto-West Germanic *etan, from Proto-Germanic *etaną (“to eat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁édti, from *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognates Cognate with Scots ait (“to eat”), Yola ayth, eight (“to eat”), North Frisian iidj, iit, ää'e, ääre, ääse (“to eat”), Saterland Frisian iete, íete (“to eat”), West Frisian ite (“to eat”), Alemannic German asse, assu, essen, ässe, ässä (“to eat”), Bavarian eisn, essn, èssn (“to eat”), Cimbrian èssan, èzzan (“to eat”), Dutch and Low German eten (“to eat”), German essen (“to eat”), Luxembourgish iessen (“to eat”), Mòcheno èssn (“to eat”), Vilamovian aosa (“to eat”), Yiddish עסן (esn, “to eat”), Danish æde (“to eat”), Elfdalian jätå (“to eat”), Faroese eta (“to eat”), Icelandic eta, éta (“to eat”), Norwegian Bokmål ete (“to eat”), Norwegian Nynorsk eta, ete, åtå (“to eat”), Swedish äta (“to eat”), Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (itan, “to eat”).

15 senses

1To consume (something solid or semi-solid, usually food)…
2To consume a meal.
3To have a particular quality of diet; to be well-fed or underfed.
4To be ingested.
5To destroy, consume, or use up.
6To consume (an exception, an event, etc.) so that other…
7To damage, destroy, or fail to eject a removable part or…
8To consume money (or other instruments of value, such as…
9To cause (someone) to worry.
10To take the loss in a transaction.
11To be injured or killed by (something such as a firearm…
12To corrode or erode.
13To perform oral sex (on a person or body part).
14To do or perform well and stunningly; to consume a…
15To annex.

› To ingest.

Ambitransitive To consume (something solid or semi-solid, usually food) by putting it into the mouth and swallowing it.

He's eating an apple.
Don't disturb me now. Can't you see that I'm eating?

4 more examples

But meate commendeth vs not to God: for neither if we eate, are we the better: neither if wee eate not, are we the woꝛſe.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 8:8, column 2:
At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap orred tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw[…]that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
Cully Barnaby: Are you going to eat this? or shall I just throw it away now? DCI Tom Barnaby: You sound just like your mother.1999 February 3, Anthony Horowitz & al., "Strangler's Wood", Midsomer Murders

To consume a meal.

What time do we eat this evening?
I eat in the kitchen.2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

3 more examples

I don't know any quarter in England where you get such undeniable mutton—mutton that eats like mutton, instead of the nasty watery, stringy, turnipy stuff, neither mutton nor lamb, that other countries are inundated with.1852, The New Monthly Magazine, page 310:
[D]ish him with thlitheth of orangeth, barberrieth, grapeth, goothberrieth, and butter; and you will find that he eaths deliciouthly either with farced pain or gammon pain.1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “In Which the Minstrelsy Proceeds”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume I, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 73:
This wine is drinking great. And this food is eating great.2025, 00:37:35 from the start, in Aziz Ansari, director, Good Fortune, spoken by Elena (Keke Palmer):

To have a particular quality of diet; to be well-fed or underfed.

I try to eat healthy these days.

Ergative To be ingested.

It's a soup that eats like a meal.

› To use up.

Figuratively, Often, With up To destroy, consume, or use up.

This project is eating up all the money.
That hobby eats his savings.

1 more example

His wretched estate is eaten up with mortgages.1857–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1858–1859, →OCLC:

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences Figuratively, Informal To consume (an exception, an event, etc.) so that other parts of the program do not receive it.

A bigger problem, however, is that if you catch/eat an exception and do nothing with it, you are very likely introducing subtle bugs in your application that will be next to impossible to track down.2005, Wallace B. McClure, Gregory A. Beamer, John J. Croft IV, Professional ADO.NET 2, page 246:

Figuratively, Informal, Of a device To damage, destroy, or fail to eject a removable part or an inserted object.

The VHS recorder just ate the tape and won't spit it out.
John is late for the meeting because the photocopier ate his report.

1 more example

No! There's a problem with the cassette player. Don't press fast forward or it eats the tape!1991, Shane Black, The Last Boy Scout (movie)

Figuratively, Informal To consume money (or other instruments of value, such as a token) deposited or inserted by a user, while failing to either provide the intended product or service or return the payment.

Of a vending machine or similar device

The video game in the corner just ate my quarter.
Hey! This stupid [soda vending] machine ate my quarter.1977, Nancy Dowd, Slap Shot (movie)

Informal To cause (someone) to worry.

What's eating you?

Business To take the loss in a transaction.

I have to have him in court tomorrow, if he doesn't show up, I forfeit the bond and I have to eat the $300,000.1988, George Gallo, Midnight Run (movie)
The server made an error when taking the order. The bartender prepared two scorpion bowls. When the error was realized the bartender was faced with having to "eat" the extra scorpion bowl […]1999, Ronald S. Beitman, Liquor Liability: A Primer for Winning Your Case, page 27:

1 more example

When they were doing it with the valuation professionals, they were billing the client, but the valuation professional in a lot of those early cases had to eat the cost of showing the auditor how the auditors' test model was incorrect.2011, Lorenzo Carver, Venture Capital Valuation:

Slang To be injured or killed by (something such as a firearm or its projectile), especially in the mouth.

I risk my whole future, the hatred of the cops and Eddie Mars' gang. I dodge bullets and eat saps.1944, William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman, The Big Sleep (screenplay)
And, of course, there was Brian Rusk, who had eaten a bullet at the ripe old age of eleven.1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:

4 more examples

Friends are only necessary in the ghastly country, where you have to have them, along with rubber boots and a barometer and secateurs, to put off bucolic idiocy, a wet brain, or eating the 12-bore.1997, A. A. Gill, "Diary" (in The Spectator, 1 November 1997)
Mike had been to other calls where someone had eaten a gun. He knew to expect teeth embedded in the ceiling and brains dripping off it.2012, Kaya McLaren, How I Came to Sparkle Again: A Novel, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN:
The animal was sweating and scared and MacAdams was surprised when they finished up without either of them eating a kick.2017, Edward W. Robertson, Stardust, Edward W. Robertson:
There was a resounding smacking noise and Georgy was sure Philip had just eaten a fist.2018, Daniel Tomazic, Of Bullies and Men: Young Adult Fiction, →ISBN, page 18:

Ambitransitive To corrode or erode.

The acid rain ate away the statue. The strong acid eats through the metal.

Slang To perform oral sex (on a person or body part).

Eat me!
I ate his ass.

1 more example

Yeah, eat that dick / eat that pussy.

Slang, Stative To do or perform well and stunningly; to consume a challenge successfully and stylishly; to rule, to slay.

African-American Vernacular

You ate that performance!
This song eats!

1 more example

Lorde and Charli XCX confronted each other via song like some kind of alt-pop musical-theater number, and it ate. “The girl, so confusing version with lorde,” like all the best pop music, features multiple moments that burrow into your brain and refuse to leave, giving you no other choice but to simply relisten to the track.2024 June 21, Jason P. Frank, “Who Else Needs to Work It Out on a Remix?”, in Vulture:

Slang To annex.

Synonyms: eat, have, fret
Derived terms: 197 terms
all cows eat grass, all-eating, all-you-can-eat, anteating, appetite comes with eating, ass eating, big fish eat little fish, binge eat, binge eating, binge eating disorder, bitch eating crackers, bite to eat, bone-eating snot flower worm, cat that ate the canary, chalk-eating weasel, cheese eating, cheese-eating, cheese-eating surrender monkey, cheese-eating surrender monkeys, clean eating, comfort-eat, comfort eating, competitive eating, could eat the arse out of a low flying duck, could eat the crotch out of a low flying duck, could eat the crutch from a low flying duck, crab-eating fox, crab-eating frog, crab-eating macaque, crab-eating raccoon, crab-eating rat, crab-eating zorro, do not eat, dog-eat-dog, dog eat dog, don't shit where you eat, eat a bag of dicks, eatability, eatable, eat a burger, eat a dick, eatage, eat-all-you-can, eat and leave no crumbs, eat and run, eat an elephant one bite at a time, eat ass, eatathon, eat away, eat away at, eat beaver, eat boiled crow, eat cookie, eat crow, eat cunt, eat dirt, eat down, eatee, eater, eatertainment, eatery, eaterie, eat for breakfast, eat for two, eat from someone's hand, eat from the palm of someone's hand, eat humble pie, eat-in, eat in, eating, eating ass, eating club, eating-disordered, eating establishment, eating knife, eat into, eat it, eat lead, eat like a bird, eat like a horse, eat like an animal, eat like a pig, eat my ass, eat my dust, eat my shorts, eat one's cake and have it too, eat one's dinners, eat one's emotions, eat one's feelings, eat one's fill, eat one's gun, eat one's hat, eat one's head off, eat one's heart, eat one's heart out, eat one's own, eat one's own dog food, eat one's pride, eat one's seed corn, eat one's terms, eat one's Wheaties, eat one's words, eat one's young, eat-out, eat out, eat out of someone's hand, eat out of the palm of someone's hand, eat pussy, eats, eat shit, eat someone alive, eat someone for breakfast, eat someone out of house and home, eat someone's ass, eat someone's dust, eat someone's heart, eat someone's lunch, eat something up, eat something up with a spoon, eat the baby, eat the bread of idleness, eat the leek, eat the mic, eat the onion, eat the rich, eat the seed corn, eat to windward, eat twat, eat up, eat up with a spoon, eat what you kill, eatworthy, fire eating, fish-eating crocodile, fish-eating grin, fish-eating rat, flesh-eating, flesh-eating disease, floor one could eat off, fress, go and eat coke, good enough to eat, grin like a mule eating briars, have one's cake and eat it, have one's cake and eat it too, have you eaten, heat-and-eat, how the cow ate the cabbage, I could eat a brick, I could eat a horse, I don't eat beef, I don't eat fish, I don't eat meat, I don't eat pork, Leopards Eating People's Faces Party, let them eat cake, lotus-eating, maneating, man-eating, meat-eating, miseat, monkey-eating eagle, never eat shredded wheat, never eat soggy waffles, never eat soggy Weet-Bix, never eat soggy wheat, night eating syndrome, noneating, nylon-eating bacterium, opium-eating, outeat, overeat, pay-as-you-eat, pussy eating, real men don't eat quiche, seedeating, selective eating disorder, shit-eating grin, shit-eating smile, sleep-eat, sleepeat, smile like a mule eating briars, sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you, the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet, the dog ate my homework, the proof is in the eating, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the vine that ate the South, toadeating, undereat, uneat, uneating, what's eating, what's eating you, what's eating you?, worm-eaten, you are what you eat
Related terms: fret, ort, drink, edible, food, eat someone out of house and home, mouthful, taste
Hypernyms: ingest
Hyponyms: 31 terms
bolt, chomp down on, devour, eat like a bird, eat like a horse, eat like a pig, eat one's fill, fress, gobble, gobble down, gobble up, gorge, gormandize, guttle, ingurgitate, make a pig of oneself, nibble, pig, raven, scarf, scarf up, scarf down, scoff, scoff down, scoff up, snack, snarf, wolf, wolf down, wolf up, woof
Holonyms: breakfast, dine, sup
Meronyms: bite, champ, chew, chomp, gnaw, masticate, mumble, munch, swallow

eat

noun

Etymology From Middle English ete, ate, æte, from Old English ǣt (“food, eating”), from Proto-West Germanic *āt, from Proto-Germanic *ētą (“food, thing to eat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognate with West Frisian iten (“food”), Saterland Frisian Íeten (“food”), German Aas (“carrion”), Vilamovian aosa (“food”), Icelandic át (“eating; solid food”).

Colloquial Something to be eaten; a meal; a food item.

Eating a Picnic creates a flurry of wafer pieces, flying peanuts and chocolate crumbs. […] As well as being messy, Picnic happens to be a big eat – something of a consumption challenge in fact.2011, William Chitty, Nigel Barker, Michael Valos, Integrated Marketing Communications, page 167:

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