eat

Syllabification: (eat)

Pronunciation: /ēt/

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Definition of eat

verb (past ate /āt/; past participle eaten /ˈētn/)

[with object]

put (food) into the mouth and chew and swallow it:he was eating a hot dog eat up all your peas [no object]:she watched her son as he ate
have (a meal):we ate dinner in a noisy cafe
[no object] (eat out) have a meal in a restaurant.
[no object] (eat in) have a meal at home rather than in a restaurant.
informal bother; annoy:she knew what was eating him
vulgar slang, chiefly US perform fellatio or cunnilingus on (someone).
vulgar slang (eat out) perform cunnilingus or anilingus on (someone).
informal absorb (financial loss or cost).

noun

(eats) informal

food or snacks:people would stop for soft drinks or eats

Phrases

eat someone alive: informal (of insects) bite someone many times:we were eaten alive by mosquitoes; exploit someone’s weakness and completely dominate them:he expects manufacturers to be eaten alive by lawyers in liability suits
eat crow: see crow¹.
eat dirt: see dirt.
eat someone's dust: see dust.
eat one's heart out: suffer from excessive longing, especially for someone or something unattainable.; [in imperative] informal used to encourage feelings of jealousy or regret:eat your heart out, I’m having a ball!
eat humble pie: see humble.
eat like a bird (or a horse): informal eat very little (or a lot).
eat someone out of house and home: informal eat a lot of someone else’s food.
eat one's words: retract what one has said, especially in a humiliated way:they will eat their words when I win
have someone eating out of one's hand: have someone completely under one’s control.
I'll eat my hat: informal used to indicate that one thinks the specified thing is extremely unlikely to happen:if he comes back, I’ll eat my hat

Phrasal Verbs

eat away at (or eat something away): erode or destroy something gradually:the sun and wind eat away at the ice prevents bone from being eaten away; use up (profits, resources, or time), especially when they are intended for other purposes:inflation can eat away at the annuity’s value over the years
eat into: another way of saying .
eat someone up: (usually as adjective eaten up) dominate the thoughts of someone completely:I’m eaten up with guilt
eat something up: use resources or time in very large quantities:an operating system that eats up 200Mb of disk space; encroach on something:this is the countryside that villagers fear will be eaten up by concrete

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

eat in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of eat in the British & World English dictionary

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eat

verb (past ate /āt/; past participle eaten /ˈētn/)

noun

Phrases

eat someone alive

eat crow

eat dirt

eat someone's dust

eat one's heart out

eat humble pie

eat like a bird (or a horse)

eat someone out of house and home

eat one's words

have someone eating out of one's hand

I'll eat my hat

Phrasal Verbs

eat away at (or eat something away)

eat into

eat someone up

eat something up

Origin:

eat in other Oxford dictionaries

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