To masticate and swallow as nourishment; partake of or devour as food: said especially of solids: as, to eat bread.
To corrode; wear away; gnaw into; consume; waste: generally with away, out, up, or into: as, rust has eaten away the surface; lines eaten out by aqua fortis; these cares eat up all my time.
To take food; feed.
To make way by corrosion; gnaw; penetrate or excavate by disorganization or destruction of substance: as, a cancer eats into the flesh.
To taste; relish: as, it eats like the finest peach.