eat-v; 9 Senses

Sense Number 1: consume or absorb as food, take in a meal

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP1[agent] EAT (NP2) Includes: EAT UP, EAT LIKE A HORSE, EAT A HORSE

Examples:
I ate.
She was eating an apple.
What do whales eat?
This plant eats bugs.
What did you eat for dinner last night?
I haven't eaten for three days.
Have you eaten yet?
I made some oven-baked risotto, and they ate it up.
I didn't eat yet, so I gladly accept your invitation.
She stopped eating meat on advice from her doctor.
I'm so hungry that I could eat a horse.
Will you have a bite to eat?
Stop eating like a horse, there won't be enough for our guests.
Some pigeons will eat out of your hand.

Mappings:
VerbNet: eat-39.1-1
FrameNet: Ingestion
PropBank: eat.01,eat.02
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 1, 2, 3

Sense Number 2: consume resources or (completely) use up materials

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP1[agent] EAT NP2

Examples:
This car eats a lot of gas.
If only the radio didn't eat up so much power and sounded better.
College eats money too fast for me.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: Ingestion
PropBank: eat.01,eat.02
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 5, 4

Sense Number 3: erode or corrode into something

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP1[agent] EAT NP2[patient] Includes: EAT AT, EAT AWAY, EAT INTO, EAT ON
NOTE: Unlike in sense 2, NP2 is not used up. It is affected by corrosive action of NP1, but NP1 does not exhaust the existence of NP2.
NOTE: Metaphorical Use: corrode one's thoughts or actions through persistent anxiety or annoyance

Examples:
Rust had eaten into the chrome.
The acid eats the surface, leaving a negative image of the same color.
What's eating him, now?
What's eating on you?
This is one of those little things that just eats at my brain.
Government waste eats away at the freedom of taxpayers.
I'm so alone, and it's eating me away inside.
The job ate into my personal thinking time.
A mouse ate into my cereal box!

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: eat.03
WordNet 3.0 Sense Numbers: 4, 6
WordNet Verb Particle Constructions, Multiword Expressions:
eat_at 1
eat_on 1
eat_away 1, 2
eat_into 1

Sense Number 4: absorb the cost, consequence, or expense of something

Commentary: Syntax Is: NP1[agent] EAT NP2[cost, expense, consequence] Includes: EAT someone's HAT, EAT someone's WORDS, EAT HUMBLE PIE, EAT CROW

Examples:
You're going to have to eat that traffic fine.
You eat your losses and move onto the next investment.
I was left to eat his debt when he dissappeared.
An honest trader will eat his mistakes.
Sam said it would never sell, but I expect he'll have to eat his words.
If she actually marries him I'll eat my hat.
After all that boasting, he's been forced to eat humble pie.
Nature's editor beat a hasty retreat, and publicly ate crow.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: eat.01

Sense Number 5: endorse strongly, accept, or be fooled

Commentary: Includes: EAT UP

Examples:
The folks in the audience absolutely ate it up.
Do you believe they ate that lie?
I ate it all up without stopping to consider alternatives.
He'll eat up whatever the broker tells him.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: eat.01

Sense Number 6: manipulate, overwhelm or dominate

Commentary: Includes: EAT OUT OF someone's HAND, EAT someone ALIVE

Examples:
He eats people like you for breakfast.
Their football team ate ours in the second half of the game.
Believe in yourself and have others eating out of your hand.
An inexperienced manager can easily be eaten alive in a competitive corporate environment.
This exam will surely eat me alive.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM

Sense Number 7: pour out a particular emotion toward something

Commentary:
NOTE: Specifically: EAT one's HEART OUT
NOTE: Usage: Emotion can be zeal, ardor, anger, jealousy, craving, or longing.

Examples:
Eat your heart out, Pavarotti!
I've watched an ex-girlfriend post about her new boyfriend while I ate my heart out.
During the first two years, I ate my heart out while I cried myself to sleep.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM

Sense Number 8: EAT IN-have a meal or dine at home

Commentary:
NOTE: Be careful not to immediately choose eat+in combination.
NOTE: EAT IN construction is not as common as the next sense EAT OUT EAT IN in "What do you eat in America", for example, is not a verb particle construction.

Examples:
Let's eat in tonight!

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
WordNet Verb Particle Constructions, Multiword Expressions:
eat_in 1

Sense Number 9: EAT OUT-have a meal or dine away from home

Examples:
I can't believe how many times we eat out during one month.

Mappings:
VerbNet: NM
FrameNet: NM
PropBank: NM
WordNet Verb Particle Constructions, Multiword Expressions:
eat_out 1