eat ( t)v. ate ( t), eat·en ( t n), eat·ing, eats v.tr.1. a. To take into the body by the mouth for digestion or absorption. b. To take in and absorb as food: a plant that eats insects; a cell that eats bacteria. c. To include habitually or by preference in one's diet: a bird that eats insects, fruit, and seeds; stopped eating red meat on advice from her doctor. 2. To destroy, ravage, or use up by or as if by ingesting: "Covering news in the field eats money" (George F. Will). 3. To erode or corrode: waves that ate away the beach; an acid that eats the surface of a machine part. 4. To produce by or as if by eating: Moths ate holes in our sweaters. 5. Slang To absorb the cost or expense of: "You can eat your loss and switch the remaining money to other investment portfolios" (Marlys Harris). 6. Informal To bother or annoy: What's eating him? 7. Vulgar Slang To perform cunnilingus on. Often used with out. v.intr.1. a. To consume food. b. To have or take a meal. 2. To exercise a consuming or eroding effect: a drill that ate away at the rock; exorbitant expenses that were eating into profits. 3. To cause persistent annoyance or distress: "How long will it be before the frustration eats at you?" (Howard Kaplan). Phrasal Verb: eat up Slang 1. To receive or enjoy enthusiastically or avidly: She really eats up the publicity. 2. To believe without question: He'll eat up whatever the broker tells him. Idioms: eat crow To be forced to accept a humiliating defeat. eat (one's) heart out1. To feel bitter anguish or grief. 2. To be consumed by jealousy. eat (one's) words To retract something that one has said. eat out of (someone's) hand To be manipulated or dominated by another. eat (someone) alive Slang To overwhelm or defeat thoroughly: an inexperienced manager who was eaten alive in a competitive corporate environment.
[Middle English eten, from Old English etan; see ed- in Indo-European roots.]
eat er n. Synonyms: eat, consume, devour, ingest These verbs mean to take food into the body by the mouth: ate a hearty dinner; greedily consumed the sandwich; hyenas devouring their prey; whales ingesting krill. |
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. | eater - someone who consumes food for nourishmentconsumer - a person who uses goods or services devourer - someone who eats greedily or voraciously diner - a person eating a meal (especially in a restaurant) dunker - an eater who dips food into a liquid before eating it; "he was a dunker--he couldn't eat a doughnut without a cup of coffee to dunk it in" gobbler - a hasty eater who swallows large mouthfuls luncher - someone who is eating lunch mouth - a person conceived as a consumer of food; "he has four mouths to feed" nosher, snacker - someone who eats lightly or eats snacks between meals omnivore - a person who eats all kinds of foods vegetarian - eater of fruits and grains and nuts; someone who eats no meat or fish or (often) any animal products | | 2. | eater - any green goods that are good to eat; "these apples are good eaters" |
Translations eater [ˈiːtər] n → mangeur/euse m/fa fussy eater → une personne difficile sur la nourriture meat-eater
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