# eat up

CEFR B1 · Phrasal verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/eat-up
Updated: 2026-04-24

## Definition

to finish all of your food; you use this when you want someone to eat everything on their plate.

For teachers: to consume a portion of food completely; often used in the imperative to encourage children or guests to finish a meal.

## Examples

- Eat up your vegetables before you have dessert.
- The kids were so hungry after swimming that they ate up their entire lunch in minutes.
- The rising costs of raw materials continue to eat up the company's profit margins, forcing a complete rethink of their pricing strategy.

## Pitfalls

- Not "You must eat up it." but "You must eat it up." — when using a pronoun like 'it', the pronoun must go between the verb and the particle.

## Usage notes

- often used as an imperative or with a direct object representing the food being consumed.
- Teaching tip: highlight the 'completion' sense of the particle 'up', similar to 'finish up' or 'clean up', which implies doing something until it is finished.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.