eating
Americannoun
-
the act of a person or thing that eats.
-
food with reference to its quality or tastiness when eaten.
This fish is delicious eating.
adjective
-
used in eating.
They brought out plates and eating utensils for dinner.
-
good or fit to eat, especially raw.
A sweet, crisp Gala is the perfect eating apple for a summer salad.
noun
adjective
-
relating to or suitable for eating, esp uncooked
eating pears
-
relating to or for eating
an eating house
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of eating
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English; eat ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun senses; eat ( def. ) + -ing 2 for the adjective senses
Explanation
Eating is the act of consuming food. It would be nice to have lunch in the library instead of the cafeteria — but unfortunately, they don't allow any eating in there. The process of taking food in through your mouth — biting, chewing, tasting, swallowing — is eating. Figuratively, eating can also mean "wasting or destroying," the way rust consumes metal or anxiety gradually destroys a person's mental health. As an adjective, eating means "used for consuming," as in a set of eating utensils, complete with a spoon, fork, and knife. The Germanic etan, "consume or devour," is the root of eating.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some have taken out high-interest loans against their settlement, which are eating up a greater percentage of their payout with each passing year.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2026
Save room for dessert, especially the kanom krok, a crispy round pancake filled with coconut cream that’s lightly sweet and impossible to stop eating.
From Salon • Jun. 11, 2026
Then, when those larvae are born into screwworm flies, they start eating, and what they are eating is what they have right there: the flesh of the animal that its mother laid the larvae into.
From Slate • Jun. 11, 2026
What seems to be happening is that businesses, flush with profits, are eating cost increases tied to higher oil prices lest they drive away customers.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
And then there was Benjamin, who was just quietly eating lunch—without doing anything else.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
