Eat I Eating Ate Iːt Food Eaten Good

• i was too nervous to eat.
• she doesn't eat sensibly (= doesn't eat food that is good for her).
• i don't eat meat.
• would you like something to eat?

eat

1. to put food in your mouth, chew it and swallow it
• I was too nervous to eat.
• She doesn't eat sensibly (= doesn't eat food that is good for her).
• I don't eat meat.
• Would you like something to eat?
• I couldn't eat another thing (= I have had enough food).
2. to have a meal
• Where shall we eat tonight?
• We ate at a pizzeria in town.
3. a situation in business, politics, etc. where there is a lot of competition and people are willing to harm each other in order to succeed
• I'm afraid in this line of work it's a case of dog eat dog.
• We're operating in a dog-eat-dog world.
4. to criticize or punish somebody severely because you are extremely angry with them
• See related entries: Anger
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/topic/anger/eat
• He’ll eat you alive if he ever finds out.
5. to defeat somebody completely in an argument, a competition, etc.
• The defence lawyers are going to eat you alive tomorrow.
6. to bite somebody many times
• I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
7. to be made to feel small, stupid, etc.
• The actor said she'd rather eat dirt than have to talk about this.
8. said to encourage somebody to enjoy life now, while they can, and not to think of the future
9. used to compare two things and say that one of them is better
• Look at him dance! Eat your heart out, Fred Astaire (= he dances even better than Fred Astaire).
10. to feel very unhappy, especially because you want somebody/something you cannot have
• I’m not going to mope at home, eating my heart out for some man.
11. to say and show that you are sorry for a mistake that you made
12. to eat a lot
• She may be thin, but she eats like a horse.
13. to eat a lot of somebody else’s food
• How much longer is he staying? He’s eating us out of house and home.
14. to trust somebody and be willing to do what they say
• She'll have them eating out of her hand in no time.
15. to admit that what you said was wrong
16. to have the advantages of something without its disadvantages; to have both things that are available
17. used to say that you are very hungry
18. used to say that you think something is very unlikely to happen
• If she's here on time, I'll eat my hat!
19. used to ask what somebody is annoyed or worried about

Extra Examples

• Barton did not feel very hungry and ate sparingly.
• Come on, eat up your lunch.
• Do you have anything to eat?
• Do you want to grab a bite to eat?
• Everyone happily ate the huge meal.
• Go and get yourself something to eat and drink.
• He had not eaten properly for days.
• He’d barely eaten any breakfast.
• He’s eating us out of house and home.
• He’s not eating enough.
• I’m trying to eat more healthily.
• Let’s go eat.
• She doesn’t eat sensibly.
• She’s very thin but she eats like a horse!
• Try and eat something. It will do you good.
• We ate very well most of the time.
• We eventually sat down to eat at 8.30 p.m.
• We went out to eat for a Chinese New Year celebration.
• You look good enough to eat!
• I can’t be bothered to cook. Shall we eat out tonight?
• I couldn’t eat another thing.
• I don’t eat meat.
• You can eat really well without spending a fortune.

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they eat
• he / she / it eats
• past simple ate
• past participle eaten
• -ing form eating

Word 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.