Definition of
Eat
- (verb, consumption) take in solid food
What did you eat for dinner last night? - (verb, consumption) eat a meal; take a meal
I didn't eat yet, so I gladly accept your invitation - (verb, consumption) take in food; used of animals only
What do whales eat? - (verb, emotion) worry or cause anxiety in a persistent way
- (verb, consumption) use up (resources or materials)
We exhausted our savings
They run through 20 bottles of wine a week - (verb, change) cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid
The steady dripping of water rusted the metal stopper in the sink
- (verb, consumption) take in solid food
via WordNet, Princeton University
Synonyms of Eat
consume, corrode, deplete, eat on, eat up, exhaust, feed, run through, rust, use up, wipe out
Alternate forms of Eat
Hyponyms: banquet, binge, bolt, bolt down, break bread, breakfast, browse, brunch, burn, burn off, burn up, consume, crop, devour, dig in, dine, dine in, dine out, dip, down, drain, dunk, eat, eat in, eat out, eat up, englut, engorge, exhaust, fare, feast, fill, fill up, finish, forage, fress, garbage down, glut, gluttonise, gluttonize, go through, gobble, gobble up, gorge, gormandise, gormandize, gourmandize, graze, guttle, indulge, ingurgitate, junket, lunch, luxuriate, mess, nibble, nosh, overeat, overgorge, overindulge, pasture, peck, peck at, pick, pick at, pick up, picnic, piece, pig, pig out, pitch in, play out, polish off, range, raven, ruminate, run down, run out, sap, satiate, scarf out, shovel in, slurp, snack, spend, stuff, suckle, take away, take out, tire, victual, wash down, wolf, wolf down
Hypernyms: consume, damage, drop, eat, expend, have, ingest, spend, take, take in, vex, worry
Origin of the word Eat
- O.E. etan (class V strong verb; past tense ?t, pp. eten), from P.Gmc. *etanan (cf. O.N. eta, Goth. itan, Ger. essen), from PIE base *ed- "to eat" (see edible). Transferred sense of "slow, gradual corrosion or destruction" is from 1550s. Meaning "to preoccupy, engross" (as in what's eating you?) first recorded 1893. … more
via Online Etymology Dictionary, ©2001 Douglas Harper