to eat in

31 1.1

Have a meal at home instead of going to a restaurant

phrasal verb
/it ɪn/

: comer en casa

After a long day, I prefer to eat in rather than go to a crowded restaurant.
eat in my room
eat in the kitchen
eat in the cafeteria

Examples

Tonight, let's choose to eat in and enjoy a homemade dinner instead of ordering takeout.
We decided to eat in since it was too cold to dine outside.
Should I eat in for my lunch or should I go to a drive through?
You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Hey, we're eating in five minutes, okay?

Badland (2007)
Now, will you please get out of here and let me eat in peace?

Falling from Grace (1992)
"We'll eat in here so we can talk."

Fiction book (1995)
I'm gonna eat in my room and get at it.

The Author, The Star and The Keeper (2020)
A family ate in silence.

Fiction book (1993)
The family eats in silence.

Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

to dine in

vsto eat in

3 3.0

To eat a meal at home instead of going to a restaurant

is limited to having a meal only at home not at preparation sites

Antonyms

to eat out

35 1.3

To have a meal at a restaurant instead of at home

Surface Forms

eat in infinitive

ate in past

eaten in past participle

eating in present participle

eats in third person singular

Morphology

eat + in

The meaning 'to have a meal at home' is directly derivable from combining 'eat' (to consume food) with 'in' (indicating inside/at a place): the particle marks location so 'eat in' literally means eat inside/at home. This compositional location pattern is common across languages and in English (contrast with 'eat out'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Eat in comes from the simple, literal idea of eat plus in: to eat 'inside' your home instead of 'eating out' at a restaurant. So, it means 'to have a meal at home'.