Eat

v. t. [imp. ĔAT, or ĀTE; p. p. ĔAT, or EATEN; p. pr. & vb. n. EATING.] [A-S. & O. Sax. etan, Goth. itan, O. Fries. & Icel. eta, Sw. äta, Dan. äde, D. eeten, O. H. Ger. ezan, ezzan, N. H. Ger. essen, Lat. edere, Gr. ἔδειν, Skr. ad, O. Pruss. id, Ir. & Gael. ith, W. ysu.]

1Sense 1. To partake of as food; to swallow as nourishment;—said especially of food not liquid; as, to eat bread.

They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen. Dan. iv. 25.

With stories told of many a feat, How fairy Mab the junkets eat. Milton.

2Sense 2. To corrode, as metal, by rust; to consume gradually, as a cancer, the flesh; to waste or wear away; to prey upon, as the health or spirits; to cause to disappear; to use up.

To eat one's words, to take back what has been uttered; to retract one's assertions.—To eat out, to consume completely. “Eat out the heart and comfort of it.” Tillotson.

Synonyms—To consume; devour; gnaw; corrode.

v. i. 1. To take food; to feed; especially, to take solid, in distinction from liquid, food; to board.

He did eat continually at the king’s table. 2 Sam. ix. 13.

2Sense 2. To taste or relish; as, it eats like the tenderest beef. Malcom. Willis.

To eat, or to eat in or into, to make way by corrosion; to gnaw; to consume.

A sword laid by, Which eats into itself. Byron.