eats C2+ Topic:Food & Drink US /its/ UK /iːts/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun food, especially informal or casual fare There were plenty of good eats laid out at the tailgate. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · food, especially informal... foodfaregrubchowvictualsprovisionsnosh Word family Related forms eateateryeatable Etymology AI details A colloquial plural use of the noun eat, from the verb eat (Old English etan); the slang noun sense 'food' dates to the 19th century. etan Old English *etaną Proto-Germanic *h₁ed- Proto-Indo-European View etymology graph -> Topics Food & Drink Register & Style External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # eats **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /its/ **IPA (UK):** /iːts/ ## Meanings 1. food, especially informal or casual fare ## Examples - There were plenty of good eats laid out at the tailgate. ## Synonyms - food - fare - grub - chow - victuals - provisions - nosh ## Related Forms - eat - eatery - eatable ## Roots and Affixes - Root: etan - Root: *etaną - Root: *h₁ed- ## Etymology A colloquial plural use of the noun eat, from the verb eat (Old English etan); the slang noun sense 'food' dates to the 19th century. ## AI Etymology Eats is a colloquial plural use of the noun eat, from the verb eat (Old English etan); the slang noun sense 'food' dates to the 19th century. The ancestry passes through Old English etan, Proto-Germanic *etaną, and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed-. In present use as a noun, it means "food, especially informal or casual fare", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Its colloquial history matters: the word belongs to informal usage before settling into the present dictionary sense. Related words include eat, eatery, and eatable. ## Topics - Food & Drink - Register & Style markdown