eat /iːt/► SEE ALLeat sb aliveeat, drink and be merryeat your heart outeat your heart out (for sb/sth)eat humble pieeat like a birdeat like a horseeat sb’s luncheat sb out of house and homeeat your wordsI could eat a horseI’ll eat my hat!he, she, etc. won’t eat youhave your cake and eat itdog eat dog ●eat sb aˈlive (informal) 1. ( have/eat sb for ˈbreakfast) criticize or punish sb severely because you are extremely angry with them非常严厉地责骂（或惩戒）某人2. ( have/eat sb for ˈbreakfast) defeat sb completely in an argument, a competition, etc.（在辩论、竞赛等中）大败某人，完全胜过某人◆The defence lawyers are going to eat you alive tomorrow. 明天辩护律师会把你驳得体无完肤。◆The union leader eats managers for breakfast! 工会主席把经理们整惨了！3. (usually used in the passive通常用于被动语态) (of insects, etc.昆虫等) bite sb many times不停地叮咬◆I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes. 我快被蚊子咬死了。●ˌeat, drink and be ˈmerry (saying) said to encourage sb to enjoy life now, while they can, and not to think of the future及时行乐●eat your ˈheart out (spoken) used to compare two things and say that one of them is better这个要好得多◆Look at him dance! Eat your heart out, John Travolta (= he dances even better than John Travolta). 看他舞跳的！简直比约翰 ∙ 特拉沃尔塔跳得还好！●eat your ˈheart out (for sb/sth) (especially BrE) be very unhappy because you want sb/sth that you cannot have因为得不到而心碎；因渴求而极其悲伤◆He’s eating his heart out for that woman. 他因为得不到那个女人心都碎了。●ˌeat humble ˈpie (BrE) (NAmEeat ˈcrow) say and show that you are sorry for a mistake that you made认错；低头谢罪◆I had to eat humble pie when Harry, who I said would never have any success, won first prize. 哈里得了一等奖，我不得不低头道歉，因为我曾说过他永远也不可能成功。ORIGINThis comes from a pun on the old word umbles, meaning ‘offal’ (= the inside parts of an animal), which was considered inferior food.这个习语源于古词 umbles，指动物内脏，过去被视为下等食物，该词与 humble 为谐音双关。●eat like a ˈbirdeat very little吃得很少◆She’s so afraid of putting on weight that she eats like a bird. 她很害怕长胖，所以吃得极少。●eat like a ˈhorseeat very large quantities of food吃得很多；食量大如牛◆My brother eats like a horse but never puts on any weight. 我兄弟饭量很大，却从不长肉。●eat sb’s ˈlunch (NAmE, business商业) take away another company’s business or their share of the market抢…的生意；夺去…的市场份额◆Unless we’re careful, foreign competitors will eat our lunch. 除非我们谨慎行事，否则国外的竞争对手就会抢走我们的生意。●eat sb out of ˌhouse and ˈhome (informal, oftenhumorous) eat all the food that sb has把某人的食物吃个精光；把某人吃穷◆She eats us out of house and home every time she comes to stay. 她每次来住都把我们的东西吃得一干二净。●eat your ˈwordsbe forced to admit that what you have said before was wrong（被迫）收回前言，承认说错◆Nick told everyone that he’d be picked for the team, but when he wasn’t chosen he had to eat his words. 尼克本来对大家说，他肯定会被挑进球队，结果没被选上，他只得承认自己说错了。●I could eat a ˈhorse (spoken) I am very hungry我饿极了◆What’s for dinner? I could eat a horse! 晚饭吃什么？我都饿死了！●I’ll eat my ˈhat! (spoken) used to say that you think sth is very unlikely to happen（表示某事几无可能）我才不信呢，那才怪呢◆They’re always late — if they get here before eight o’clock, I’ll eat my hat. 他们老是迟到。要是他们八点之前能到这儿，我就把脑袋给你。●he, she, etc. won’t ˈeat you (informal) said to encourage sb to speak to or approach sb who seems frightening（用于安慰、鼓励）放心，他（或她等）又不会吃了你◆Come on, Emma, Santa Claus won’t eat you! If you go closer, he’ll give you a present! 来，埃玛，圣诞老人又不会吃了你！你走近点儿，他会给你一个礼物！●have your cake and ˈeat it (BrE) ( have your cake and eat it tooNAmE, BrE) (informal) (often used with can’t通常与 can't 连用) enjoy the advantages of two things that cannot exist together鱼与熊掌兼得；同时兼得两件不相容的事物的好处◆‘I’ll have no money at all left after this holiday.’ ‘But you’re having a great time, aren’t you? You can’t have your cake and eat it!’“度完这次假我什么钱也不会剩下了。”“但是你会玩得很开心，不是吗？鱼和熊掌不能兼得！”●ˌdog eat ˈdog (informal) fierce competition, with no concern for the harm done or other people’s feelings残酷无情的竞争；损人利己的角逐；相互残杀◆In the modern business world, it’s dog eat dog in the search for success.在现代商业界中，要获得成功就要展开残酷的竞争。