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To eat is defined as to put food in the mouth, chew and swallow or to use up.

(verb)

An example of to eat is having a breakfast of eggs and toast.
An example of eat used as a verb is to say that something eats up time meaning it takes a lot of time.

See eat in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb ate , eaten , eating

to put (food) in the mouth, chew if necessary, and swallow
to use up, devour, destroy, or waste as by eating; consume or ravage: usually with away or up
to penetrate and destroy, as acid does; corrode
to make by or as by eating: the acid ate holes in the cloth
to bring into a specified condition by eating: to eat oneself sick
Informal to absorb (a financial loss); accept responsibility for losses resulting from (unsold goods, bad debts, etc.)
☆ Slang to worry or bother: what's eating him?
Vulgar, Slang to perform fellatio or cunnilingus on

Origin: ME eten < OE etan, akin to Ger essen < IE base *ed-, to eat > L edere, Gr edmenai

intransitive verb

to eat food; have a meal or meals
to destroy or use up something gradually: often with into

Related Forms:

eater noun

See eat in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb ate ate (āt), eat·en (ētˈn), eat·ing, eats

verb, transitive

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.
To destroy, ravage, or use up by or as if by ingesting: “Covering news in the field eats money” (George F. Will).
To erode or corrode: waves that ate away the beach; an acid that eats the surface of a machine part.
To produce by or as if by eating: Moths ate holes in our sweaters.
Slang To absorb the cost or expense of: “You can eat your loss and switch the remaining money to other investment portfolios” (Marlys Harris).
Informal To bother or annoy: What's eating him?
Vulgar Slang To perform cunnilingus on. Often used with out.

verb, intransitive

a. To consume food.
b. To have or take a meal.
To exercise a consuming or eroding effect: a drill that ate away at the rock; exorbitant expenses that were eating into profits.
To cause persistent annoyance or distress: “How long will it be before the frustration eats at you?” (Howard Kaplan).

Phrasal Verb: eat up Slang To receive or enjoy enthusiastically or avidly: She really eats up the publicity. To believe without question: He'll eat up whatever the broker tells him.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English eten

Origin: , from Old English etan; see ed- in Indo-European roots

Related Forms: