Pronunciation

/eɪt/

Definitions

• Verb: (v) To consume food; to take in solid or liquid nourishment into one’s body by chewing and swallowing it. For example: “She likes to eat breakfast early in the morning.”
• Verb: (v) Figuratively, to devour or destroy something metaphorically. For example: “The fire ate through the wooden house.”
• Verb: (v) Informal, to experience defeat or loss, often in reference to money. For example: “His bad investment decisions ate away at his savings.”

Phrases

• “Eat up” means to finish all the food on one’s plate or to encourage someone to do so. Example: “Eat up your vegetables before you leave the table.”
• “To have eaten someone out of house and home” is an idiomatic expression meaning to consume so much that it has a significant impact on the host’s resources. Example: “Their teenage son had almost eaten them out of house and home.”
• “You are what you eat” suggests that one’s health and well-being are determined by the quality and type of food consumed.

Example Sentences

• Verb (eat food): “They sat down to eat dinner after a long day at work.”
• Verb (figurative use): “Time has eaten into our project deadline; we need to speed up.”
• Verb (informal use): “Gambling losses were eating into his finances.”

Synonyms

• Consume
• Feast
• Dine
• Nibble
• Devour
• Chow (informal)
• Munch
• Graze
• Feed
• Sup (archaic)