eat out

• (General American) enPR: ēt out, IPA^(key): /it aʊt/

• Audio (AU)

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eat out (third-person singular simple present eats out, present participle eating out, simple past ate out, past participle eaten out)

1. (intransitive) To dine at a restaurant or such public place.

   Jacky wanted Korean barbecue, but his mom didn't want to eat out.

   • 2008 November 24, Powree and Oliver Knörzer, “Video Game Addiction”, in Sandra and Woo‎ (webcomic):

     (Sandra) I'm hungry, Dad. When will you finally make dinner?
     (Dad) Later. I have to finish this level first.
     (Sandra) Daddy! I'm hungry now!
     (Dad) Alright. here, Go eat out.

   • 2009, Damon Fowler, Classical Southern Cooking, page 124:

     The whole region is dotted with restaurants very much like Taylor Grocery (once called fish camps) that sell only fried fish, and when I was growing up, the announcement that we were eating out meant we were going to the fish camp.

2. (transitive) To erode or encroach upon by gradually consuming.
3. (transitive, slang, vulgar) To perform cunnilingus or anilingus on.

   The lesbian couple ate each other out.

   • 1994, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by Vincent (John Travolta):

     I mean, is it as bad as eating her pussy out? No, but it's the same fuckin' ballpark.

4. (transitive, slang) To reprimand severely.

   He will eat me out if he hears I ate his girlfriend out.

5. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see eat,‎ out.

• (to dine at a restaurant): go out to eat

• eat one's heart out

• ate out, outate, outeat