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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Eat \Eat\ ([=e]t), verb (used with an object) [imp. {Ate} ([=a]t; 277), Obsolescent & Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. p. {Eaten} ([=e]t"'n), Obs. or Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. {Eating}.] [OE. eten, AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan, G. essen, Icel. eta, Sw. ["a]ta, Dan. [ae]de, Goth. itan, Ir. & Gael. ith, W. ysu, L. edere, Gr. 'e'dein, Skr. ad. [root]6. Cf. {Etch}, {Fret} to rub, {Edible}.]
1. To chew and swallow as food; to devour; -- said especially of food not liquid; as, to eat bread. ''To eat grass as oxen.'' --Dan. iv. 25.
They . . . ate the sacrifices of the dead. --Ps. cvi. 28.
The lean . . . did eat up the first seven fat kine. --Gen. xli. 20.
The lion had not eaten the carcass. --1 Kings xiii. 28.
With stories told of many a feat, How fairy Mab the junkets eat. --Milton.
The island princes overbold Have eat our substance. --Tennyson.
His wretched estate is eaten up with mortgages. --Thackeray.
2. To corrode, as metal, by rust; to consume the flesh, as a cancer; to waste or wear away; to destroy gradually; to cause to disappear.
{To eat humble pie}. See under {Humble}.
{To eat of} (partitive use). ''Eat of the bread that can not waste.'' --Keble.
{To eat one's words}, to retract what one has said. (See the Citation under {Blurt}.)
{To eat out}, to consume completely. ''Eat out the heart and comfort of it.'' --Tillotson.
{To eat the wind out of a vessel} (Naut.), to gain slowly to windward of her.
Syn: To consume; devour; gnaw; corrode.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Eating \Eat"ing\, noun
1. The act of tasking food; the act of consuming or corroding.
2. Something fit to be eaten; food; as, a peach is good eating. [Colloq.]
{Eating house}, a house where cooked provisions are sold, to be eaten on the premises. ||
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
eating
noun: the act of consuming food [syn: {feeding}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
47 Moby Thesaurus words for "eating": cannibal, cannibalistic, carnivorous, commensal, dietetic, dining, drinking, engorgement, engulfment, feeding, flesh-eating, fruitarian, gastronomic, gluttonous, grain-eating, graminivorous, granivorous, grass-eating, gulp, gulping, herbivorous, imbibition, ingestion, ingurgitation, insect-eating, insectivorous, lactovegetarian, man-eating, meat-eating, mensal, nourishing, nutritious, omnivorous, omophagous, pantophagous, phytivorous, phytophagous, plant-eating, postprandial, prandial, predacious, preprandial, slurp, swallow, swallowing, vegetable-eating, vegetarian
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Eating The ancient Hebrews would not eat with the Egyptians (Gen. 43:32). In the time of our Lord they would not eat with Samaritans (John 4:9), and were astonished that he ate with publicans and sinners (Matt. 9:11). The Hebrews originally sat at table, but afterwards adopted the Persian and Chaldean practice of reclining (Luke 7:36-50). Their principal meal was at noon (Gen. 43:16; 1 Kings 20:16; Ruth 2:14; Luke 14:12). The word "eat" is used metaphorically in Jer. 15:16; Ezek. 3:1; Rev. 10:9. In John 6:53-58, "eating and drinking" means believing in Christ. Women were never present as guests at meals (q.v.).
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