ate

[ eyt; British et ]

/ eɪt; British ɛt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR ate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb

simple past tense of eat.

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH ate

ate eight

Words nearby ate

atb, atbara, atc, atchafalaya, atchison, ate, atebrin, atef-crown, atelectasis, ateleiosis, atelier

Definition for ate (2 of 7)

Ate

[ ey-tee, ah-tee ]

/ ˈeɪ ti, ˈɑ ti /

noun

an ancient Greek goddess personifying the fatal blindness or recklessness that produces crime and the divine punishment that follows it.

Origin of Ate

< Greek, special use of átē reckless impulse, ruin, akin to aáein to mislead, harm

Definition for ate (3 of 7)

ATE

equipment that makes a series of tests automatically.

Origin of ATE

a(utomatic) t(est) e(quipment)

Definition for ate (4 of 7)

eat

[ eet ]

/ it /

verb (used with object), ate [eyt; especially British et] /eɪt; especially British ɛt/ or (Archaic) eat [et, eet] /ɛt, it/; eat·en or (Archaic) eat [et, eet] /ɛt, it/; eat·ing.

to take into the mouth and swallow for nourishment; chew and swallow (food).

to consume by or as if by devouring gradually; wear away; corrode: The patient was eaten by disease and pain.

to make (a hole, passage, etc.), as by gnawing or corrosion.

to ravage or devastate: a forest eaten by fire.

to use up, especially wastefully; consume (often followed by up): Unexpected expenses have been eating up their savings.

to absorb or pay for: The builder had to eat the cost of the repairs.

Slang: Vulgar. to perform cunnilingus or fellatio on.

verb (used without object), ate [eyt; especially British et] /eɪt; especially British ɛt/ or (Archaic) eat [et, eet] /ɛt, it/; eat·en or (Archaic) eat [et, eet] /ɛt, it/; eat·ing.

to consume food; take a meal: We'll eat at six o'clock.

to make a way, as by gnawing or corrosion: Acid ate through the linoleum.

noun

eats, Informal. food.

Verb Phrases

eat away/into, to destroy gradually, as by erosion: For eons, the pounding waves ate away at the shoreline.

eat out, to have a meal at a restaurant rather than at home.

eat up,

to consume wholly.
to show enthusiasm for; take pleasure in: The audience ate up everything he said.
to believe without question.

Origin of eat

before 900; Middle English eten, Old English etan; cognate with German essen, Gothic itan, Latin edere

OTHER WORDS FROM eat

eat·er, noun out·eat, verb (used with object), out·ate, out·eat·en, out·eat·ing. un·der·eat, verb (used without object), un·der·ate, un·der·eat·en, un·der·eat·ing.

Definition for ate (5 of 7)

-ate ¹

a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin, its English distribution paralleling that of Latin. The form originated as a suffix added to a-stem verbs to form adjectives (separate). The resulting form could also be used independently as a noun (advocate) and came to be used as a stem on which a verb could be formed (separate; advocate; agitate). In English the use as a verbal suffix has been extended to stems of non-Latin origin: calibrate; acierate.

Origin of -ate

< Latin -ātus (masculine), -āta (feminine), -ātum (neuter), equivalent to -ā- thematic vowel + -tus, -ta, -tum past participle suffix

Definition for ate (6 of 7)

-ate ²

a specialization of -ate¹, used to indicate a salt of an acid ending in -ic, added to a form of the stem of the element or group: nitrate; sulfate.

Compare -ite¹.

Origin of -ate

probably originally in New Latin phrases, as plumbum acetātum salt produced by the action of acetic acid on lead

Definition for ate (7 of 7)

-ate ³

a suffix occurring originally in nouns borrowed from Latin, and in English coinages from Latin bases, that denote offices or functions (consulate; triumvirate; pontificate), as well as institutions or collective bodies (electorate; senate); sometimes extended to denote a person who exercises such a function (magistrate; potentate), an associated place (consulate), or a period of office or rule (protectorate). Joined to stems of any origin, ate3 signifies the office, term of office, or territory of a ruler or official (caliphate; khanate; shogunate).

Origin of -ate

< Latin -ātus (genitive -ātūs), generalized from v. derivatives, as augurātus office of an augur ( augurā(re) to foretell by augury + -tus suffix of v. action), construed as derivative of augur augur¹

Example sentences from the Web for ate

He tore a piece of meat off the breast and stroked her coat while she ate.

The Stacks: A Chicken Dinner That Mends Your Heart |Pete Dexter |December 7, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Then they sat down at the dinner table and ate with delight.

In New Brothers Grimm 'Snow White', The Prince Doesn't Save Her |The Brothers Grimm |November 30, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
I ordered a salad, ate it, and in the bathroom snuck a swig of Pepto.

I Shot Bin Laden |Elliot Ackerman |November 16, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
They made his clothes, sat at his feet while he ate, made love to him whenever he wished, did whatever he asked.

Gay Talese on Charlie Manson’s Home on the Range |Gay Talese |October 31, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

I ate the staple corn paste sadza every day and tasted fried mopane worms.

How I Got Addicted to Africa (and Wrote a Thriller About It) |Todd Moss |September 9, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He ate because his mother filled his plate; but if he had been questioned, he could scarcely have told what he was eating.

Baron Trigault's Vengeance |Emile Gaboriau
He ate his lunch, but did not need to start on the second trip until the middle of the afternoon.

Freckles |Gene Stratton-Porter
In the province of Xanto the hunger was so great that they ate human flesh, for which there was a public market.

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume XVIII, 1617-1620 |Various
He ate supper with her and worked on until it was quite dark, tired as he was, and then shook hands and said "Good night."

Wayside Courtships |Hamlin Garland
When these had so done, they shut themselves up in the inmost rooms of their houses, and ate the corn they had gotten.

The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 03 |Various

British Dictionary definitions for ate (1 of 6)

ate

/ (ɛt, eɪt) /

verb

the past tense of eat

British Dictionary definitions for ate (2 of 6)

Ate

/ (ˈeɪtɪ, ˈɑːtɪ) /

noun

Greek myth a goddess who makes men blind so that they will blunder into guilty acts

Word Origin for Ate

C16: via Latin from Greek atē a rash impulse

British Dictionary definitions for ate (3 of 6)

-ate ¹

suffix

(forming adjectives) possessing; having the appearance or characteristics of fortunate; palmate; Latinate

(forming nouns) a chemical compound, esp a salt or ester of an acid carbonate; stearate

(forming nouns) the product of a process condensate

forming verbs from nouns and adjectives hyphenate; rusticate

Word Origin for -ate

from Latin -ātus, past participial ending of verbs ending in -āre

British Dictionary definitions for ate (4 of 6)

-ate ²

suffix forming nouns

denoting office, rank, or a group having a certain function episcopate; electorate

Word Origin for -ate

from Latin -ātus, suffix (fourth declension) of collective nouns

British Dictionary definitions for ate (5 of 6)

EAT

EAZ

abbreviation for

Tanzania (international car registration)

Word Origin for EAT

from E(ast) A(frica) T(anganyika) or E(ast) A(frica) Z(anzibar)

British Dictionary definitions for ate (6 of 6)

eat

/ (iːt) /

verb eats, eating, ate or eaten

to take into the mouth and swallow (food, etc), esp after biting and chewing

(tr; often foll by away or up) to destroy as if by eating the damp had eaten away the woodwork

(often foll by into) to use up or waste taxes ate into his inheritance

(often foll by into or through) to make (a hole, passage, etc) by eating or gnawing rats ate through the floor

to take or have (a meal or meals) we always eat at six

(tr) to include as part of one's diet he doesn't eat fish

(tr) informal to cause to worry; make anxious what's eating you?

(tr) slang to perform cunnilingus or fellatio upon

I'll eat my hat if informal I will be greatly surprised if (something happens that proves me wrong)

eat one's heart out to brood or pine with grief or longing

eat one's words to take back something said; recant; retract

eat out of someone's hand to be entirely obedient to someone

eat someone out of house and home to ruin someone, esp one's parent or one's host, by consuming all his food

Derived forms of eat

eater, noun

Word Origin for eat

Old English etan; related to Gothic itan, Old High German ezzan, Latin edere, Greek edein, Sanskrit admi

Medical definitions for ate (1 of 2)

-ate

suff.

A derivative of a specified chemical compound or element:aluminate.

A salt or ester of a specified acid whose name ends in -ic:acetate.

Medical definitions for ate (2 of 2)

eat

[ ēt ]

v.

To take into the body by the mouth for digestion or absorption.

To consume, ravage, or destroy by or as if by ingesting, such as by a disease.

Scientific definitions for ate

-ate

A suffix used to form the name of a salt or ester of an acid whose name ends in -ic, such as acetate, a salt or ester of acetic acid. Such salts or esters have one oxygen atom more than corresponding salts or esters with names ending in -ite. For example, a sulfate is a salt of sulfuric acid and contains the group SO4, while a sulfite contains SO3. Compare -ite.

Idioms and Phrases with ate

eat

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

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

ate

verb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH ate

Words nearby ate

Definition for ate (2 of 7)

noun

Origin of Ate

Definition for ate (3 of 7)

Origin of ATE

Definition for ate (4 of 7)

verb (used with object), ate [eyt; especially British et] /eɪt; especially British ɛt/ or (Archaic) eat [et, eet] /ɛt, it/; eat·en or (Archaic) eat [et, eet] /ɛt, it/; eat·ing.

verb (used without object), ate [eyt; especially British et] /eɪt; especially British ɛt/ or (Archaic) eat [et, eet] /ɛt, it/; eat·en or (Archaic) eat [et, eet] /ɛt, it/; eat·ing.

noun

Verb Phrases

Origin of eat

OTHER WORDS FROM eat

Definition for ate (5 of 7)

Origin of -ate

Definition for ate (6 of 7)

Origin of -ate

Definition for ate (7 of 7)

Origin of -ate

Words related to ate

Example sentences from the Web for ate

British Dictionary definitions for ate (1 of 6)

verb

British Dictionary definitions for ate (2 of 6)

noun

Word Origin for Ate

British Dictionary definitions for ate (3 of 6)

suffix

Word Origin for -ate

British Dictionary definitions for ate (4 of 6)

suffix forming nouns

Word Origin for -ate

British Dictionary definitions for ate (5 of 6)

EAZ

abbreviation for

Word Origin for EAT

British Dictionary definitions for ate (6 of 6)

verb eats, eating, ate or eaten

Derived forms of eat

Word Origin for eat

Medical definitions for ate (1 of 2)

suff.

Medical definitions for ate (2 of 2)

v.

Scientific definitions for ate

Idioms and Phrases with ate