eat

UK: /ˈiːt/ US: /it/ ,(ēt)

Inflections of 'eat' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

eats

v 3rd person singular

eating

v pres p

ate

v past

eaten

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

eat /it/   v., ate /eɪt; esp. Brit. ɛt/  eat•en /ˈitən/  eat•ing, n. 
v. 

1. Physiology to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment: [~ + object]
   We ate dinner early.
   [no object]
   We haven't eaten all day.
2. to use up, esp. wastefully;
   consume gradually or slowly:
   [~ + up/away/into + object] Unexpected expenses ate up their savings.
3. to make (a hole, passage, etc.), as by wearing away, gnawing, or corroding:
   [~ + object] The acid ate a hole right through the metal.

n. 

4. Informal Terms eats, [plural] Informal. food:
   The eats are good there and the prices are cheap.

eat•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

eat  (ēt), v., ate (āt;
esp. Brit. et) or (Archaic) eat (et, ēt);
eat•en or (Archaic) eat (et, ēt);
eat•ing;
 n. 
v.t. 

1. Physiology to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment;
   chew and swallow (food).
2. to consume by or as if by devouring gradually;
   wear away;
   corrode:
   The patient was eaten by disease and pain.
3. to make (a hole, passage, etc.), as by gnawing or corrosion.
4. to ravage or devastate:
   a forest eaten by fire.
5. to use up, esp. wastefully;
   consume (often fol. by up):
   Unexpected expenses have been eating up their savings.
6. to absorb or pay for:
   The builder had to eat the cost of the repairs.
7. Slang Terms (vulgar). to perform cunnilingus or fellatio on.

v.i. 

8. to consume food;
   take a meal:
   We'll eat at six o'clock.
9. to make a way, as by gnawing or corrosion:
   Acid ate through the linoleum.
10. Idioms be eating someone, [Informal.] to worry, annoy, or bother:
    Something seems to be eating him—he's been wearing a frown all day.
11. eat away or into, to destroy gradually, as by erosion:
    For eons, the pounding waves ate away at the shoreline.
12. Idioms eat crow. See crow ¹ (def. 7).
13. Idioms eat high off the hog. See hog (def. 11).
14. Idioms eat humble pie. See humble pie (def. 3).
15. Idioms eat in, to eat or dine at home.
16. Idioms eat one's heart out. See heart (def. 23).
17. Idioms eat one's terms. See term (def. 16).
18. Idioms eat one's words. See word (def. 14).
19. eat out, to have a meal at a restaurant rather than at home.
20. eat out of one's hand. See hand (def. 36).
21. Idioms eat someone out of house and home, to eat so much as to strain someone's resources of food or money:
    A group of hungry teenagers can eat you out of house and home.
22. Idioms eat someone's lunch, [Slang.] to thoroughly defeat, outdo, injure, etc.
23. Nautical eat the wind out of, to blanket (a sailing vessel sailing close-hauled) by sailing close on the weather side of.
24. eat up:
    • to consume wholly.
    • to show enthusiasm for;
      take pleasure in:
      The audience ate up everything he said.
    • to believe without question.

n. 

25. Informal Terms eats, food.

• bef. 900; Middle English eten, Old English etan; cognate with German essen, Gothic itan, Latin edere

eat′er, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

eat / iːt/ verb (eats, eating, ate, eaten)

1. to take into the mouth and swallow (food, etc), esp after biting and chewing
2. (tr; often followed by away or up) to destroy as if by eating: the damp had eaten away the woodwork
3. (often followed by into) to use up or waste: taxes ate into his inheritance
4. often followed by into or through: to make (a hole, passage, etc) by eating or gnawing: rats ate through the floor
5. to take or have (a meal or meals): we always eat at six
6. (transitive) to include as part of one's diet: she doesn't eat fish
7. (transitive) to cause to worry; make anxious: what's eating you?

Etymology: Old English etan; related to Gothic itan, Old High German ezzan, Latin edere, Greek edein, Sanskrit admi

ˈeater noun