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[eat like a bird]{v. phr.} To eat very little; have little appetite. •/Mrs. Benson is on a diet and she eats like a bird./ •/Alice’s mother is worried about her; she eats like a bird and is very thin./ Contrast: EAT LIKE A HORSE.

[eat like a horse]{v. phr.} To eat a lot; eat hungrily. •/The harvesters worked into the evening, and then came in and ate like horses./ Contrast: EAT LIKE A BIRD.

[eat one out of house and home]{v. phr.} 1. To eat so much as to cause economic hardship. •/Our teenaged sons are so hungry all the time that they may soon eat us out of house and home./ 2. To overstay one’s welcome. •/We love Bob and Jane very much, but after two weeks we started to feel that they were eating us out of house and home./

[eat one’s cake and have it too]{v. phr.} To use or spend something and still keep it; have both when you must choose one of two things. Often used in negative sentences. •/Roger can’t make up his mind whether to go to college or get a job. You can’t eat your cake and have it too./ •/Mary wants to buy a beautiful dress she saw at the store, but she also wants to save her birthday money for camp. She wants to eat her cake and have it too./

[eat one’s heart out]{v. phr.} To grieve long and hopelessly; to become thin and weak from sorrow. •/For months after her husband’s death, Joanne simply ate her heart out./ •/We sometimes hear of a dog eating its heart out for a dead owner./

[eat one’s words] also [swallow one’s words]{v. phr.} To take back something you have said; admit something is not true. •/John had called Harry a coward, but the boys made him eat his words after Harry bravely fought a big bully./ Compare: EAT CROW.

[eat out]{v.} 1. To eat in a restaurant; eat away from home. •/Fred ate out often even when he wasn’t out of town./ 2. To rust, rot, or be destroyed in time. •/Rust had eaten out the gun barrel./ See: EAT AWAY.

[eat out of one’s hand]{v. phr.}, {informal} To trust someone fully; believe or obey someone without question. •/The governor has the reporters eating out of his hand./ •/Helen is so pretty and popular that all the boys eat out of her hand./

[eat up]{v.} 1. To eat all of. •/After hiking all afternoon, they quickly ate up all of the dinner./ 2. To use all of. •/Idle talk had eaten up the hour before they knew it./ 3. {slang} To accept eagerly; welcome. •/The girls told John he was a hero because he made the winning touchdown, and he ate up their praise./ •/Jim told Martha that she was as smart as she was beautiful and Martha ate it up./

[edge] See: HAVE AN EDGE ON, ON EDGE, SET ONE’S TEETH ON EDGE, TAKE THE EDGE OFF, THE EDGE.

[edge away]{v. phr.} To withdraw or retreat gradually. •/Frightened by the growling tiger guarding its catch, the hunter carefully edged away./

[edge in]{v.} To move slowly; get in quietly, especially with some difficulty, by force or without a big enough opening. •/People had crowded around the senator, but Don succeeded in edging in./ •/Harry edged the book in on the shelf./

[edge in (on)]{v. phr.} 1. To gradually approach an individual or a group with the intent of taking over or wielding power. •/Jack was edging in on the firm of Smith and Brown and after half a year actually became its vice president./ 2. To approach for capture (said of a group). •/The hunters were edging in on the wounded leopard./

[edge on]{adv. phr.} Edgewise; with the narrow side forward. •/The board struck him edge on./

[edge out]{v.} To defeat in competition or rivalry; take the place of; force out. •/Harry edged out Tom for a place in Mary’s affections./ •/Signal lights on cars have gradually edged out hand signals./

[edgeways] See: GET A WORD IN or GET A WORD IN EDGEWISE, also GET A WORD IN EDGEWAYS.

[edgewise] See: GET A WORD IN or GET A WORD IN EDGEWAYS.

[education] See: HIGHER EDUCATION.

[effect] See: IN EFFECT, INTO EFFECT, SOUND EFFECTS, TAKE EFFECT, TO THAT EFFECT, TO THE EFFECT THAT,

[effigy] See: HANG IN EFFIGY or BURN IN EFFIGY.

[egg] See: BAD EGG, GOOD EGG, KILL THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGG, LAY AN EGG, PUT ALL ONE’S EGGS IN ONE BASKET, ROTTEN EGG.

[egg on]{v.} To urge on; excite; lead to action. •/Joe’s wife egged him on to spend money to show off./ •/The big boys egged on the two little boys to fight./ Compare: PUT UP(6).

[either a feast or a famine] See: FEAST OR A FAMINE.

[either hide or hair] See: HIDE OR HAIR.

[eke out]{v.} 1. To fill out or add a little to; increase a little. •/Mr. Jones eked out a country teacher’s small salary by hunting and trapping in the winter./ •/The modest meal was eked out with bread and milk./ 2. To get (little) by hard work; to earn with difficulty. •/Fred eked out a bare living by farming on a rocky hillside./

[elbow] See: AT ONE’S ELBOW, ELBOW ROOM, RUB ELBOWS, UP TO THE CHIN IN or UP TO THE ELBOWS IN.

[elbow grease]{n.} Exertion; effort; energy. •/"You’ll have to use a little more elbow grease to get these windows clean," Mother said to Ed./

[elbow one’s way into] or [out of]{v. phr.} To force entry into a place by using one’s elbows. •/The bus was so crowded that, in order to get off in time, we had to elbow our way to the exit door./