eater
n. countablen. a person or animal that eats food in a certain way. You use this to describe how much or what kind of food someone likes.
n. a person or animal that consumes food, typically qualified by an adjective to describe dietary habits or volume of consumption.
My younger brother is a very picky eater.
The restaurant offers smaller portions for light eaters who prefer a three-course meal without feeling too full.
As an opportunistic eater, the red fox adapts its diet to the seasons, consuming everything from summer berries to small rodents in the winter.
From Middle English eter, etere, etter, from Old English etere; equivalent to eat + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (patient suffix) (food suitable for eating).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Commonly modified by adjectives such as 'picky', 'fussy', 'big', or 'healthy' to describe specific eating patterns.
Last updated May 6, 2026