eat

/i:t/

Thân thiện

A child eats a ripe red apple.

Definition

1. Verb (Transitive & Intransitive):
   • To consume food: To take food into the mouth, chew, and swallow it for nourishment or pleasure.
   • To have a meal: To consume food as part of a regular meal.
   • To corrode or destroy gradually: To wear away, erode, or damage something through chemical action or persistent use.
   • To use up or consume resources: To deplete or exhaust supplies, money, or time.
   • To bother or preoccupy someone: To cause persistent worry, anxiety, or annoyance.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (Consume food):
  • I usually eat breakfast at 7 AM.
  • Cows eat grass.
• Verb (Have a meal):
  • Let's eat at the new restaurant.
  • We haven't eaten yet.
• Verb (Corrode/Destroy):
  • Rust ate through the old pipe.
  • The acid will eat into the metal.
• Verb (Use up resources):
  • The project ate up all our savings.
  • Repairing the car ate into my weekend.
• Verb (Bother someone):
  • What's eating him today? He seems upset.
  • The problem has been eating at me for weeks.

Advanced Usage

• "to eat away at": To gradually erode, destroy, or reduce something.
  • Inflation eats away at the value of savings.
• "to eat one's words": To be forced to retract a statement, often humiliatingly.
  • After his prediction failed, he had to eat his words.
• "to eat out of someone's hand": To be completely submissive or under someone's control.
  • The manager has the team eating out of his hand.

Variants and Related Words

• Eater (n): A person or animal that eats in a specified way (e.g., ).
• Eatable / Edible (adj): Fit or safe to be eaten.
• Eating (n/adj): The act of consuming food (e.g., ).

Synonyms

• Consume: To eat or drink, especially in large quantities.
• Devour: To eat quickly and greedily.
• Ingest: A formal or biological term for taking food into the body.
• Corrode: To destroy or damage slowly by chemical action.
• Annoy: To cause slight irritation or worry.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Eat up:
  • To eat all of something.

    • The children ate up all the cookies.
  • To consume or use something completely.

    • Travel costs ate up our budget.
  • To accept or believe something eagerly.

    • She ate up all the compliments.
• Eat away at: To gradually erode or destroy.
  • Worry was eating away at her.
• Eat into: To use a significant part of something, especially time or money.
  • The extra work ate into my free time.
• Eat out: To have a meal at a restaurant rather than at home.
  • We decided to eat out tonight.

Related Idioms

• Eat humble pie: To admit one's error and apologize humbly.
  • After the mistake was exposed, he had to eat humble pie.
• Eat one's heart out: To feel intense longing, envy, or worry.
  • She's eating her heart out over that promotion.
• Eat like a horse: To eat very large quantities of food.
  • My brother eats like a horse but never gains weight.
• Eat someone out of house and home: To eat so much that it is a financial burden.
  • When our cousins visit, they eat us out of house and home.
• You are what you eat: A saying that diet affects health and well-being.

Học thuật

Verb

1. cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid
   • The acid corroded the metal
   • The steady dripping of water rusted the metal stopper in the sink
2. use up (resources or materials)
   • this car consumes a lot of gas
   • We exhausted our savings
   • They run through 20 bottles of wine a week
3. worry or cause anxiety in a persistent way
   • What's eating you?
4. take in food; used of animals only
   • This dog doesn't eat certain kinds of meat
   • What do whales eat?
5. eat a meal; take a meal
   • We did not eat until 10 P.M. because there were so many phone calls
   • I didn't eat yet, so I gladly accept your invitation
6. take in solid food
   • She was eating a banana
   • What did you eat for dinner last night?

Từ đồng nghĩa

• corrode
• rust
• consume
• eat up
• use up
• deplete
• exhaust
• run through
• wipe out
• eat on
• feed