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eat
- definition
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/iːt/ 
| present tense | |
| I/you/we/they | eat |
| he/she/it | eats |
| present participle | eating |
| past tense | ate |
| past participle | eaten |
- to put food into your mouth and swallow it
We sat on the grass and ate our sandwiches.
Don’t talk while you’re eating.
I’ve eaten too much.
Finish your lunch – you’ve hardly eaten anything.
- a.to eat a particular type or amount of food
Do you eat meat/fish/eggs?
I find it difficult to persuade my family to eat a healthy diet.
eat properly/healthily/sensibly (=eat food that is good for you):Many people who live alone don’t eat properly.
eating habits/patterns (=what someone eats, and when they eat):It will take time to change your children’s eating habits.
eat well (=have a lot of good food):We always ate well at Aunt Milly’s.
- b.to have a meal
We don’t eat breakfast together, except at the weekends.
Beth ate her evening meal in the hotel.
What time shall we eat?
eat at:We ate at a small Chinese restaurant several streets away.
something to eat (=food):Where can we get something to eat?
a bite to eat (=a quick meal):Do you want to grab a bite to eat before we go?
phrases
eat someone alive
eat like a bird
eat like a horse
informaleat someone out of house and home
humorouseat your heart out
humorouseat your words
informalhave someone eating out of your hand
what’s eating someone?
spoken
This is the British English definition of eat. View American English definition of eat.
Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.
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