What does "eat up" mean (sense 1)?

To finish all of one's food; often used as an instruction to encourage someone to finish eating. Example: "Eat up your vegetables and then you can have dessert."

What does "eat up" mean (sense 2)?

To consume or use up a resource (time, energy, money, space) in large quantities. Example: "The daily commute eats up nearly three hours of my day."

What does "eat up" mean (sense 3)?

To enjoy or receive something with great enthusiasm, often attention or praise. Example: "The crowd loved his performance — he just ate up the applause."

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eat up

A2 neutral separable transitive/intransitive

To consume all of something, or to use up resources quickly; also used to encourage someone to finish their food.

In plain English

To finish all the food on your plate, or to use a lot of something very quickly.

What does "eat up" mean?

4 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.

1 A2 neutral

very common

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."

separable

2 B1 idiomatic neutral

very common

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."

separable

3 B2 idiomatic informal

common

To enjoy or receive something with great enthusiasm, often attention or praise.

"The crowd loved his performance — he just ate up the applause."

separable

4 B2 idiomatic informal

uncommon

To overwhelm or dominate someone completely, often in a competitive context.

"The experienced lawyer ate the young prosecutor up in cross-examination."

separable

Literal vs figurative

Words literally mean

To eat all the way up — to finish everything — completely transparent in its basic sense.

Actually means

To finish all the food on your plate, or to use a lot of something very quickly.

Usage tip

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.'

Words that pair with "eat up"

Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.

food time , resources battery attention miles

How to conjugate "eat up"

The five tense forms you'll use most often.

Base

eat up

I/you/we/they

3rd person

eats up

he/she/it

Past simple

ate up

yesterday

Past participle

eaten up

have + pp

-ing form

eating up

continuous

Hear "eat up" in the wild

Listen to native speakers using "eat up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.

Keep exploring

Jump to every phrasal verb built on the same verb, particle, or level.

All phrasal verbs with "eat" All phrasal verbs with "up" More A2-level phrasal verbs