Definition
verbTo ingest; to be ingested.
verbTo ingest; to be ingested., To consume (something solid or semi-solid, usually food) by putting it into the mouth and swallowing it.
Sentence Examples
If you don't eat, you die.
Why don't you eat vegetables?
I was too nervous to eat.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English eten, from Old English etan (“to eat”), from Proto-West Germanic *etan, from Proto-Germanic *etaną (“to eat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁édti, from *h₁ed- (“to eat”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots ait (“to eat”), Yola ayth, eight (“to eat”), North Frisian iidj, iit, ää'e, ääre, ääse (“to eat”), Saterland Frisian iete, íete (“to eat”), West Frisian ite (“to eat”), Alemannic German asse, assu, essen, ässe, ässä (“to eat”), Bavarian eisn, essn, èssn (“to eat”), Cimbrian èssan, èzzan (“to eat”), Dutch and Low German eten (“to eat”), German essen (“to eat”), Luxembourgish iessen (“to eat”), Mòcheno èssn (“to eat”), Vilamovian aosa (“to eat”), Yiddish עסן (esn, “to eat”), Danish æde (“to eat”), Elfdalian jätå (“to eat”), Faroese eta (“to eat”), Icelandic eta, éta (“to eat”), Norwegian Bokmål ete (“to eat”), Norwegian Nynorsk eta, ete, åtå (“to eat”), Swedish äta (“to eat”), Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (itan, “to eat”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But meate commendeth vs not to God: for neither if we eate, are we the better: neither if wee eate not, are we the woꝛſe."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 8:8, column 2:
"At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap orred tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs."
— 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
"But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw[…]that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either."
— 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
"Shepard: Everyone on this station is chafing under Anoleis' extortion. You might end up a hero.
Lorik Qui'in: My employers rely on the goodwill of the Executive Board to work here.
Wrex: If these "executives" don't blame Anoleis for provoking this, they're fools. You should eat them."
— 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria:
"I don't know any quarter in England where you get such undeniable mutton—mutton that eats like mutton, instead of the nasty watery, stringy, turnipy stuff, neither mutton nor lamb, that other countries are inundated with."
— 1852, The New Monthly Magazine, page 310: