▪ I. eating, vbl. n.
(ˈiːtɪŋ)
[f. eat v. + -ing1.]
1. The action or habit of taking food.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 19 Þe licome luuað muchele slauðe and muchele etinge and drunkunge. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 37 Sume men ladeð here lif on etinge and on drinkinge alse swin. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 66 Hous of etynge. Ibid. III. 410 Ffor gostily eetynge of Cristis owne body. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour 22 Ther was gret noyse betwene the man and hys wiff for etinge of the ele. 1528 Paynell Salerne Regim. E., They that haue a putrified feuer, are forbyden eatynge of mylke. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 296. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xli. 264 By eating at Christ's table, is meant the eating of the Tree of Life. 1755 Smollett Quix. (1803) II. 133 The proof of the pudding is in the eating of it. 1884 Ruskin in Pall Mall G. 27 Oct. 6/1 You have..kickshaws instead of beef for your eating. |
b. An act of taking food; a meal. Also a way or manner of feeding. arch.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 118 An Etynge, commestio, edilis. 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. xxxvii. 29 Be not gredy in euery eatynge. 1608 Hieron Wks. I. 691 Taking heed to our selues in our eatings, in our apparrell, in our companie, in our recreations. 1847 L. Hunt Men, Wom. & B. I. iv. 77 Marvelling at their eatings, their faces, and at the prodigious jumps they took. 1873 Lytton K. Chillingly iii. v. (1878) 188 Epochs are signalised by their eatings. |
c. good, etc., eating: said of an article of food.
| 1763 Mrs. Harris in Priv. Lett. 1st Ld. Malmesbury I. 93 Whitebait..are really very good eating. 1781 Phil. Trans. LXXI. 169 note, White Ants..are most delicious and delicate eating. 1871 Gd. Words 720 A..fish, weighing from half-a-pound to two pounds, and excellent eating. |
2. Corrosion; disintegration by a chemical agent.
| 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 1 The extraordinary Eating and Corroding of their Rudder-Irons and Bolts. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as eating-apple, eating-parlour, etc. Also eating-house, -room.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 143 Etynge appulle tre, esculus. 1483 Cath. Angl. 118 An Etynge place, pransorium. 1509 Fisher Fun. Serm. Marg. C'tesse Richmonde (1708) 12 The hour of dyner..of the Etynge day was ten of the Cloke, and upon the fastynge day, Eleven. 1535 Coverdale Ruth ii. 12 Whan it is eatinge tyme, come hither, and eate of the bred. 1622 Massinger, etc. Old Law iii. i, I shall have but six weeks of Lent..& then comes eating-tide. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Gt. Eater Kent 12 Nothing comes amisse. Let any come in the shape of fodder or eating-stuffe, it is welcome. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xv. 256 The said man-eating occasions. 1823 F. Cooper Pioneer vii. (1869) 35/2 The remainder of the party withdrew to an eating parlour. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. viii. (1873) 172 The elevatory movement, and the eating-back power of the sea. 1853 Rock Ch. of Fathers III. ii. 86 They went in procession to the eating-hall. |
▸ eating disorder n. any of various psychological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits, esp. anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.
| 1961 Chicago Daily Tribune 16 Nov. v. 7/3 Dr. Hilde Bruch, clinical professor of psychiatry,..will speak on ‘*Eating Disorders’ at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Forest Hospital. 1987 Today's Health Apr.–May 14/2 Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia aren't easy to treat. 2005 A. Smith Accidental 227 It is the kind of thing, along with people's parents breaking up..that makes people at school have eating disorders or cut themselves. |
▸ eating disordered adj. affected with an eating disorder; (also) characteristic of a person who has an eating disorder.
| 1983 Washington Post 20 May c5/1 She began seeing eating disorders and..she tracked the problem back to what she sees as ‘*eating-disordered families’. 1996 S. Hesse-Biber Am I Thin Enough Yet? (1997) vii. 90 Engaging in eating disordered behavior. 2006 Times (Nexis) 24 July (Times2 section) 11 A core issue that I think many people, especially women (eating disordered or not), will relate to. |
▪ II. eating, ppl. a.
(ˈiːtɪŋ)
[f. eat + -ing2.]
1. That eats; chiefly in comb. with prefixed obj. Formerly also, Greedy, voracious.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 118 Etynge, edax, edaculus. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 446 ¶6 An eating Parasite, or a vain⁓glorious Soldier. Mod. He has killed a man-eating tiger. |
† b. quasi-n. = eater. Obs.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 7125 (Trin.) Of þe etyng þe mete out sprong. 1382 Wyclif Nahum iii. 12 His vnripe fijgis..shuln falle in to the mouth of the etynge [1388 etere]. |
2. That consumes or eats away; gnawing, corroding, fretting: of sores, chemical corrosives, etc.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iv. iii. (1651) 383 Plaisters to raise blisters, eating medicines of pich, mustard-seed and the like. 1702 Rowe Tamerl. iv. i. 1774 Drops of eating Water on the Marble. 1835 Browning Paracelsus 130 Festering blotches, eating poisoning blains. |
| fig. c 1602 F. Davison Ps. lxxiii. in Farr S.P. (1845) 322 From sweatting toyle, and eating care. 1632 Milton L'Allegro 135 And ever against eating cares, Lap me in soft Lydian airs. 1702 Rowe Ambit. Step-Moth. i. i. 278 That eating canker, Grief. 1876 Blackie Songs Relig. & Life 186 From eating care thy heart to free. |