eat up
To finish all the food on your plate, or to use a lot of something very quickly.
Meanings
To finish all of one's food; often used as an instruction to encourage someone to finish eating.
"Eat up your vegetables and then you can have dessert."
To consume or use up a resource (time, energy, money, space) in large quantities.
"The daily commute eats up nearly three hours of my day."
To enjoy or receive something with great enthusiasm, often attention or praise.
"The crowd loved his performance — he just ate up the applause."
To overwhelm or dominate someone completely, often in a competitive context.
"The experienced lawyer ate the young prosecutor up in cross-examination."
Very common in everyday English. As a direct instruction ('Eat up!'), it is especially used by parents talking to children. Figuratively, it means to consume or use resources rapidly (the commute eats up two hours a day). Also used informally to mean to enjoy something enthusiastically: 'She ate up the attention.'
Commonly used with
Forms
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