[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

eat \eat\ =et, v. t. imp. ate =at; 277, obsolescent 
   colloq. eat e^t; p. p. eaten =et"'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. aumta, dan. aede, goth. itan,
   ir.  gael. ith, w. ysu, l. edere, gr. 'e`dein, skr. ad.
   root6. 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.
      1913 webster

            they . . . ate the sacrifices of the dead. --ps.
                                                  cvi. 28.
      1913 webster

            the lean . . . did eat up the first seven fat kine.
                                                  --gen. xli.
                                                  20.
      1913 webster

            the lion had not eaten the carcass.   --1 kings
                                                  xiii. 28.
      1913 webster

            with stories told of many a feat,
            how fairy mab the junkets eat.        --milton.
      1913 webster

            the island princes overbold
            have eat our substance.               --tennyson.
      1913 webster

            his wretched estate is eaten up with mortgages.
                                                  --thackeray.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

   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.
        1913 webster
see also:
ate eat eaten eating etch fret 
edible to eat humble pie humble to eat of to eat one's words 
blurt to eat out to eat the wind out of a vessel 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

eating \eat"ing\, n.
   1. the act of tasking food; the act of consuming or
      corroding.
      1913 webster

   2. something fit to be eaten; food; as, a peach is good
      eating. colloq.
      1913 webster

   eating house, a house where cooked provisions are sold, to
      be eaten on the premises.
      1913 webster
see also:
eating house 

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

eating
     n : the act of consuming food syn: feeding
see also:
feeding 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

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

[5] : Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

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..
   

Eating >> E Words
Eating, definition of term: Eating
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