eat

The word “eat” means to take food into the mouth and swallow it. In plain terms, to consume food, or figuratively, to wear away at something or trouble someone.

“Eat” is pronounced eet (/it/ in IPA).

Here is “eat” used in a sentence: “She was too nervous to eat before the interview.”

Words with a similar meaning to “eat” include have and fret.

“Eat” is a verb.

The word “eat” comes from Old English. From Old English etan, an ancient verb going back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to eat," shared across nearly all Germanic languages.

“Eat” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Eat” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to take food into the mouth and swallow it.

Eat is the plain, everyday word for taking in food. Consume is more formal and broader: you can consume food, drink, fuel, or resources, and it often appears in scientific, legal, or business contexts. When it comes to food the two mean the same thing, but eat is far more natural in speech.

Eat is neutral and covers any food intake. Dine is more formal and usually means to eat a full meal, especially dinner, often in a social or restaurant setting. You eat a quick snack, but you dine at a fine restaurant. Dining carries a sense of occasion that plain eating does not.

Eat is irregular. The simple past is "ate," as in "I ate breakfast," and the past participle is "eaten," as in "I have eaten." A frequent error is "have ate"; after has or have, the correct form is always eaten. The present forms are eat and eats.

Neutral options include consume and have. For hearty eating, try devour, gobble, or tuck into. For dainty eating, use nibble or pick at. More formal choices include dine. Each adds a shade of meaning about how much, how fast, or how formally the eating happens.