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⇱ eat away - WordReference.com Dictionary of English


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
eat /it/USA pronunciation   v., ate /eɪt; esp. Brit. ɛt/USA pronunciation  eat•en /ˈitən/USA pronunciation  eat•ing, n. 
v. 
  1. Physiologyto take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment: [~ + object]We ate dinner early.[no object]We haven't eaten all day.
  2. to use up, esp. wastefully;
    consume gradually or slowly:[~ + up/away/into + object]Unexpected expenses ate up their savings.
  3. to make (a hole, passage, etc.), as by wearing away, gnawing, or corroding:[~ + object]The acid ate a hole right through the metal.

n. 
  1. Informal Terms eats, [plural] Informal. food:The eats are good there and the prices are cheap.
eat•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
eat  (ēt),USA pronunciation v., ate (āt;
esp. Brit. et) or (Archaic) eat (et, ēt);
eat•en or (Archaic) eat (et, ēt);
eat•ing;
 n. 
v.t. 
  1. Physiologyto take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment;
    chew and swallow (food).
  2. to consume by or as if by devouring gradually;
    wear away;
    corrode:The patient was eaten by disease and pain.
  3. to make (a hole, passage, etc.), as by gnawing or corrosion.
  4. to ravage or devastate:a forest eaten by fire.
  5. to use up, esp. wastefully;
    consume (often fol. by up):Unexpected expenses have been eating up their savings.
  6. to absorb or pay for:The builder had to eat the cost of the repairs.
  7. Slang Terms(vulgar). to perform cunnilingus or fellatio on.

v.i. 
  1. to consume food;
    take a meal:We'll eat at six o'clock.
  2. to make a way, as by gnawing or corrosion:Acid ate through the linoleum.
  3. Idioms be eating someone, [Informal.]to worry, annoy, or bother:Something seems to be eating him—he's been wearing a frown all day.
  4. eat away or into, to destroy gradually, as by erosion:For eons, the pounding waves ate away at the shoreline.
  5. Idioms eat crow. See crow 1 (def. 7).
  6. Idioms eat high off the hog. See hog (def. 11).
  7. Idioms eat humble pie. See humble pie (def. 3).
  8. Idioms eat in, to eat or dine at home.
  9. Idioms eat one's heart out. See heart (def. 23).
  10. Idioms eat one's terms. See term (def. 16).
  11. Idioms eat one's words. See word (def. 14).
  12. eat out, to have a meal at a restaurant rather than at home.
  13. eat out of one's hand. See hand (def. 36).
  14. Idioms eat someone out of house and home, to eat so much as to strain someone's resources of food or money:A group of hungry teenagers can eat you out of house and home.
  15. Idioms eat someone's lunch, [Slang.]to thoroughly defeat, outdo, injure, etc.
  16. Nautical eat the wind out of, to blanket (a sailing vessel sailing close-hauled) by sailing close on the weather side of.
  17. eat up:
    • to consume wholly.
    • to show enthusiasm for;
      take pleasure in:The audience ate up everything he said.
    • to believe without question.

n. 
  1. Informal Terms eats, food.
  • bef. 900; Middle English eten, Old English etan; cognate with German essen, Gothic itan, Latin edere
eat′er, n. 

'eat away' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

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