Exploring idioms and phrasal verbs can make your English more colorful and engaging. Here are 20 expressions with the verb “eat,” complete with short meanings and example sentences.
Expressions With EAT
1. Eat out
Meaning: Dine at a restaurant.
Example: Let’s eat out tonight for dinner.
2. Eat in
Meaning: Dine at home.
Example: We decided to eat in tonight.
3. Eat up
Meaning: Consume completely.
Example: He ate up all the cookies.
4. Eat away at
Meaning: Gradually destroy.
Example: Guilt was eating away at him.
5. Eat like a horse
Meaning: Eat a lot.
Example: He eats like a horse every meal.
6. Eat like a bird
Meaning: Eat very little.
Example: She eats like a bird, barely anything.
7. Eat your words
Meaning: Admit you’re wrong.
Example: You’ll eat your words soon enough.
8. Eat humble pie
Meaning: Apologize and show humility.
Example: He had to eat humble pie after losing.
9. Eat your heart out
Meaning: Feel jealousy or envy.
Example: Eat your heart out, I won the prize!
10. Eat someone alive
Meaning: Criticize severely.
Example: The critics ate him alive for his performance.
11. Eat someone out of house and home
Meaning: Consume all food.
Example: The kids ate me out of house and home.
12. Eat up time
Meaning: Use a lot of time.
Example: This project is eating up my time.
13. Eat dirt
Meaning: Endure humiliation.
Example: After the mistake, he had to eat dirt.
14. Eat crow
Meaning: Admit defeat or mistake.
Example: She had to eat crow after the argument.
15. Eat on the go
Meaning: Eat while moving.
Example: I often eat on the go during busy days.
16. Eat at
Meaning: Bother persistently.
Example: The problem was eating at him.
17. Eat away
Meaning: Gradually reduce.
Example: Inflation eats away at savings.
18. Eat into
Meaning: Use up resources.
Example: Unexpected costs ate into our budget.
19. Eat up space
Meaning: Occupy a lot of space.
Example: The new sofa eats up the living room space.
20. Eat it up
Meaning: Enjoy something thoroughly.
Example: The audience ate up his performance.
