eat up
/iːt ʌp/
Meaning
This phrasal verb means to eat all of something, or to finish all the food on your plate. It is often used as an encouraging command, especially to children, or to describe eating something quickly and with enthusiasm.
Examples
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Eat up, kids! We need to leave for the park in ten minutes.
Eat up, kids! We need to leave for the park in ten minutes.
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If you don't eat up your vegetables, you won't get any dessert.
If you don't eat up your vegetables, you won't get any dessert.
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They were so hungry after the hike that they ate up everything on the table.
They were so hungry after the hike that they ate up everything on the table.
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Make sure to eat up before the food gets cold.
Make sure to eat up before the food gets cold.
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I made too much pasta, so please eat up!
I made too much pasta, so please eat up!
Common Mistakes
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✗ I ate up of my dinner.
✓ I ate up my dinner.
'Eat up' is a transitive phrasal verb and does not take the preposition 'of' before its object.
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✗ He ate up it quickly.
✓ He ate it up quickly.
When the object of a separable phrasal verb like 'eat up' is a pronoun (like 'it' or 'them'), it must be placed between the verb and the particle.
Related Expressions
Practice
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Come on, ___ your soup before it gets cold!
💡 Finish all of it.
Show answer
eat up
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The kids were so hungry they ___ all the pizza in five minutes.
💡 Past tense of eat up.
Show answer
ate up