eat out

eat someone out Also, eat someone up. Rebuke or scold someone sharply, as in He was always eating out the kids, or Why are you eating me up? I haven’t done anything wrong. This slangy synonym for chew out probably originated as a euphemism for eat someone’s ass out. It dates from the 1940s, the variant from the 1840s. Also see the subsequent entries beginning with eat out.

In addition to the idioms beginning with eat

• eat and run
• eat away at
• eat crow
• eat high off the hog
• eat in
• eat like a bird
• eat one’s cake and have it, too
• eat one’s hat
• eat one’s heart out
• eat one’s words
• eat out
• eat out of someone’s hand
• eat shit
• eat someone alive
• eat someone out
• eat someone out of house and home
• eat someone’s ass out
• eat someone’s lunch
• eat someone up
• eat up

also see:

• dog eat dog
• proof of the pudding is in the eating
• what’s eating you