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Glite Dictionary
to eat into

to eat into

2 6.8
To make someone feel more and more upset or angry inside
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : carcomer
  • In the medium term, however, Ukraine's overarching economic stagnation will eat into their profits.
  • eat into profits
  • eat into your profit margin

Examples

  • Any sort of groupthink eats into the individual integrity that is the heart of Emerson's ideal democracy.

    Academic text (2010)

  • MIB: With the ever-growing popularity of online video, there is a growing concern that it may be eating into potential music sales or streaming music subscriptions.

    Blog text (28)

  • I receive so many that it eats into my writing time!

    Blog text (4)

  • Apps are eating into browser time.

    Blog text (27)

  • Batteries eat into your profits in a hurry!

    Blog text (9)

  • Yes, but that's going to eat into your profit.

  • It's also pretty widely known that e-books do eat into print sales, affecting Borders in a big way.

    Blog text (5)

  • The bottom line is that increasing and out-of-control wage demands have eaten into that pie, leaving clubs with less to spend.

    Blog text (4)

  • And they are all very closely involved in these new benefits; the only problem is that it is eating into the savings of society and our long-term growth.

    Blog text (13)

  • The constant worries about her future were starting to eat into her happiness each day.

Synonyms

to eat away at
vsto eat into
  • Informal
25 4.4

To damage something slowly over time, for example a building or a person's confidence

is more about growing emotional anger and disturbance than general destruction
to gnaw
vsto eat into
18 4.9

Gradually make someone feel worried or less confident

applies specifically to causing ongoing anger and distress not general erosion
to eat at
vsto eat into
  • Informal
14 7.1

Gradually make someone feel worse or less confident

aims at creating increasing resentment and disturbance rather than general erosion
to rankle
vsto eat into
10 8.0

To continue to make someone feel angry or hurt

is about growing anger and disturbance rather than only bitter resentment
to grate
vsto eat into
  • Informal
9 6.7

Annoy someone more and more over time

is more about deepening emotional pain rather than simple annoyance
to gnaw at
vsto eat into
7 6.1

To make someone feel worried or less confident for a long time

focuses specifically on causing anger and disturbance rather than broad weakening
to eat on
vsto eat into
  • Informal
9.1

To worry someone for a long time

focuses on making someone angry and resentful rather than causing worry

Antonyms

to soothe
63 3.4

To make someone feel calmer or reduce their pain

How Troubling

to torment
  • NSFW
107 7.2
to eat into
2 6.8
to upset
362 1.0
to annoy
246 1.0

Surface Forms

eat into infinitive
ate into past
eaten into past participle
eating into present participle
eats into third person singular

Morphology

eat + into

The meaning 'to gnaw at emotionally / gradually erode' is a clear metaphorical extension of 'eat' (consume) plus the directional sense of 'into' (penetrate), so a learner who knows both words can plausibly infer that something is gradually consuming or penetrating one's feelings or peace of mind. However, the shift from literal consumption to an emotional/internal process is figurative and requires recognizing the metaphor, so the relation is not fully literal or immediately compositional.

Etymology

The verb eat into comes from a simple image: imagine rust, acid, or a worm slowly eating into wood or metal, making a small hole bit by bit. So, the phrase means 'to make someone feel worse or more angry little by little'.