Another way to say “eat”

Rhetorical opener admitting to doing something slightly embarrassing or out of character. "Not me eating cereal at 11pm" = "yes, I did that."

Using your own product internally. "Eat your own dog food." Exposes bugs before customers do and forces the team to care about the experience.

Partner's oddly specific quirk that's not a dealbreaker but definitely weird — alphabetizing spices, only using plain WhatsApp, refusing to eat the ends of bread.

Costco's frozen-yogurt-and-chocolate stick, specifically — the product that went viral in 2024 as the unexpected summer treat of the year. Slightly embarrassing to buy, phenomenal to eat, best consumed on the ride home before anyone asks where you went.

From Narragansett 'nasàump', a thick cornmeal porridge prepared by Native Americans and later adopted by New England colonists. Also spelled 'nasamp' or 'samp'. It was a staple survival food during early colonial winters and a formative entry point for maize into European-American cuisine. Fell out of use by the 19th century.

Something described as adult coded carries an unmistakable air of maturity, responsibility, or sophistication — it reads as a grown-up thing even if the person involved is technically still figuring it all out. It could be a meal, a playlist, a furniture choice, or a way of speaking that signals a level of put-together-ness that makes others pause and reassess your vibes. Adult coded isn't quite a compliment and isn't quite an accusation — it's more of an observation that someone or something is operating on a frequency that screams sensible life choices.

An adult check is the internet's way of pausing and asking whether you're actually ready to handle something — whether that's a spicy conversation, a financial decision, or just, like, not eating cereal for dinner again. It's equal parts gatekeeping and gentle reality check. When someone calls for an adult check they're flagging that the vibe has escalated beyond what most people are mentally or emotionally equipped for. Can be used sarcastically when the stakes are actually very low, or sincerely when someone genuinely needs to step up their maturity game.

Someone who sits at the top of the fashion food chain in their social world — not necessarily famous, not necessarily rich, just consistently and undeniably the most dripped out person in any given room. The adrip king commands respect through fit alone, walks into spaces and immediately shifts the gravitational centre of attention, and has probably inspired at least three people in their circle to update their wardrobe. The title is earned not just by wearing good clothes but by wearing them with the kind of confidence that makes it look like the clothes chose them.

Military slang for the mess hall — the cafeteria where service members eat their meals on base. Chow hall carries the no-frills, institutional energy of military life: you grab a tray, get your food, eat fast, and get back to it. Outside the armed forces, the phrase has bled into school, prison, and camp contexts to describe any large communal eating space where the menu isn't exactly gourmet.

Singaporean term for zongzi — the sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves that are traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival. In Singaporean Hokkien, kee chang refers specifically to the alkaline (lye water) version, which has a distinctive yellowish color, chewy texture, and slightly gelatinous bite — often eaten plain or with gula melaka (palm sugar). It's a beloved street food and festive staple across Singapore and Malaysia.

Beloved Australian informal shortening of 'schnitzel' — the crumbed and fried meat cutlet that has become a pub food staple across Australia. A schnitty is practically a national institution: most Aussie pubs offer a classic chicken or veal schnitty, often served with chips and a salad. Ordering a schnitty is a rite of passage at any Australian pub meal. The word perfectly captures Australia's love of shortening words and adding a casual 'y' or 'ie' ending.

An old piece of British slang for the throat — specifically the gullet or swallowing passage. Red lane was a vivid, colourful way to refer to the throat, typically in the context of eating, drinking, or getting something down the hatch. It belongs to the lively tradition of 18th and 19th century cant and vulgar English slang, where body parts got cheeky, irreverent nicknames. You'd hear it most in references to food and drink going 'down the red lane.' Obsolete today, but charming in its bluntness.

A US fair and carnival food staple -- an apple coated in a hard shell of red sugar candy, mounted on a stick for eating while walking. Strongly associated with state fairs, Halloween, and autumn festivals. The vivid red color is iconic. Also used as an adjective describing a specific glossy deep-red color (candy-apple red), especially prominent in custom car culture and hot rods.

An Indian culinary and everyday term for fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare), widely used across South Asian cooking and as a mouth freshener. In Hindi, Urdu, and related languages, 'saunf' refers both to the fennel plant and its seeds, which have a distinctive anise-like flavor. Fennel seeds are a staple spice in Indian cuisine, used in dishes ranging from dal to kebabs, and are commonly offered after meals as a digestive aid and breath freshener, often coated in sugar.

Eat cookie is vulgar slang for performing cunnilingus. The cookie here is a long-standing slang term for the vulva, and the phrase is direct about its meaning while maintaining a thin layer of food metaphor. It appears in hip-hop lyrics and urban vernacular, used both frankly and playfully depending on context.

In Wales — especially around Swansea — a packed meal is what the rest of the world calls a takeaway or takeout. While the phrase sounds like it belongs in a lunch box, locals use it to mean food ordered from a chippy, curry house, or kebab shop to eat at home. It's one of those quietly regional expressions that marks a true Swansea native, the kind that confuses every non-Welsh visitor who pictures sandwiches in cling film.

In Australian English, a sea scallop typically refers to the edible meat of a large scallop — often served battered and fried at fish and chip shops. The term can also refer to the whole shellfish. In other English dialects, 'sea scallop' distinguishes the large Atlantic scallop from the smaller bay scallop.

American English for the edible inner portion of a nut — the kernel inside the shell. The word is practical and precise, commonly used in recipes, food processing, and culinary contexts where distinguishing the shell from the edible part matters. It has a slightly clinical, technical register compared to simply saying 'the nut'.

In British slang, a scoffer is someone who eats voraciously or in large quantities — a glutton. In the more general standard English sense, a scoffer is someone who mocks or scoffs at others. Both senses are in use; the eating sense is the more distinctly slangy British usage.

A Pennsylvania Dutch and German-American regional term for scrapple, the traditional pork offal and cornmeal loaf that is a staple of Pennsylvania German cuisine. The word reflects the German dialect background of the Pennsylvania Dutch community. Used mainly within that culinary tradition and in discussions of regional American food.

Any of the cereal plants called amaranth, and its seed used for food.

Any one of several species of food fishes that make up the genus in the family , to which the herrings also belong; .

Of food: very delicious; delectable, scrumptious.

A spoon made from wood, commonly used in food preparation.

To eat a meal at home.

Any of a range of European abbreviations for food additives used on labels.

An edible plant, and its close relatives, having a head of green or purple leaves.

One who feeds, or takes in food.

(informal, Singapore, Malaysia, ) Venus clams (as food).

(Internet slang, neologism) The community on Twitter of people that self-harm or have eating disorders.

(Internet slang, neologism) A Tumblr community for those with eating disorders.

(Caribbean, Guyana, Jamaica) Starchy staple fruits and vegetables.

(SG, Malaysia) A thin crispy biscuit roll similar to the Spanish barquillo, Dutch kniepertjes, and Norwegian krumkake. Usually made from coconut milk, eggs, flour, sugar, and oil. This food item has many names: in Malay, kuih/kueh/kue kapit/sepit/sapit/semprong (literally "clamped/tongs/roll cake/snack"); in Chinese, 蛋卷 (literally "egg roll"); also often called "love letter" in Singapore and Malaysia (probably arising from the flowery patterns, Chinese characters, animals, etc. that were probably introduced by Peranakans). Usually eaten only around festivals such as Chinese New Year or Hari Raya Puasa. Sometimes also folded (rather than rolled). Note: while "egg roll" is a name sometimes used for this food item in Singapore and Malaysia, in the West, the name "egg roll" usually refers to a very different, savoury Chinese-American food item that is usually served hot and has little or no egg.

(South Africa) A snack consisting of a curry-filled roti.

(North America) (Of food) intended to be eaten off the premises from which it was bought.

(NZ) A traditional Māori pit oven, in which (suitably wrapped) raw food is lain on a base of heated stones.

(US) A combination of water, food coloring, and sugar sold as a drink in small plastic bottles for 25 cents.

(US) Any of certain species of invasive perennial sedge, of the genus , that have edible, nutlike tubers.

(US, chiefly, Austin, Texas) Especially of cuisine: of or pertaining to the country Mexico itself, in contrast to Mexican]].

(US) A kind of toasted pasta from Israel, shaped like little balls; an Israeli national food.

(US, legal) : a report issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration following the inspection of a facility where goods under the authority of the agency are manufactured, held, or sold.

(originally, US) A dish consisting of slices of English muffins with poached eggs, ham or bacon and hollandaise sauce.

(historic, US) An establishment serving light, ready-made food and drink, such as sandwiches, soup, and donuts. Mostly limited to early 20th century US.

(US) , a species of dock native to southwestern North America with edible red stems and taproots containing tannin.

(North America) A snack consisting of cake and frosting prepared in a popsicle mold and served on a stick.

(countable, especially, clothing, food, or, drink) An item labelled or denoted as being that size.

(Scotland) The edible seaweed.

(UK, Australia) A snack similar to a mille-feuille, consisting of a layer of vanilla custard or cream between two layers of pastry.

(AU) , a sapotaceous plant with an edible orange-red fruit.

(Australia, New Zealand) A prepared mixture of dried fruit and nuts to eat as a snack while bushwalking.

(idiomatic) Of, or relating to food or drink intended to be consumed off the premises.

(UK, Ireland, slang) Food, especially that of an inferior quality; grub.

(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Bread; food.

(UK, Philippines) A frozen snack consisting of flavoured ice in a tube; a freeze pop.

(UK, Philippines) A paved area at the side of a highway designated for drivers to stop in, for emergency parking, or where vehicles can wait, with larger lay-bys possibly having facilities such as food vendors or public telephones.

(UK, _, (especially Scotland)) A frozen snack consisting of flavored ice or juice in a tube; a freeze pop.

(UK) A controversy of 2000 involving the wedding of TV presenter Anthea Turner to Grant Bovey, where the two were photographed eating Snowflake chocolate bars and the pictures were subsequently used to promote the product, damaging Turner's credibility.

(UK, Ireland) Light, transparent plastic film used as a wrapping for food, etc.

(UK, NZ, India, AU) A normally deep-red-colored root vegetable usually cooked or pickled before eating.

(cuisine) A person who specializes in innovating and creating new beverages, such as employed in food labs of drink companies and beverage shops such as cafe chains.

(humorous, _, slang) A meal consisting of a fusion of breakfast and supper.

(cooking) Of food, cooked in a deep fryer, typically after being coated in batter.

(transitive) To eat quickly, greedily, hungrily, or ravenously.

(food, colloquial, usually, in the plural) A chicken tender.

An insulated picnic cooler, using ice or refrigerated blocks to keep food and drinks cool.