eat

could eat a horse: seehorse.

dog eat dog: seedog.

eat someone alive

1 (of insects) bite someone many times.

2 exploit someone's weakness ruthlessly.

eat crow be humiliated by your defeats or mistakes. North American informal

☞ In the USA 'boiled crow' has been a metaphor for something extremely disagreeable since the late 19th century.

eat dirt suffer insults or humiliation. informal

☞ In the USA eat dirt also has the sense of 'make a humiliating retraction' or 'eat your words'.

eat someone's dust fall far behind someone in a competitive situation. North American informal

1993Fiddlehead She let everybody know she was moving on to True Love and they could eat her dust.

eat your heart out

1 suffer from excessive longing, especially for someone or something unattainable.

2 used to indicate that you think someone will feel great jealousy or regret about something.

❷1997Christina ReidClowns Wait'll you see my new frock. Joan Collins eat your heart out.

eat someone out of house and home eat a lot of someone else's food. informal

eat humble pie: seehumble.

eat like a horse: seehorse.

eat salt with: seesalt.

eat your words retract what you have said, especially when forced to do so.

I'll eat my hat used to indicate that you think a particular thing is extremely unlikely to happen.

you can't have your cake and eat it: seecake.