to eat one's words
- idiom
- Informal
:
tragarse sus palabras
- Prepare to eat your words, fierce feline!
Examples
-
Yeah, eat your words, freak show.
-
-You're gonna be eating your words.
-
I just love to see you eat your words, Doc.
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I shall make him eat his words.
-
And I think we could sell enough that we could make her eat her words.
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What I'm saying is you're going to eat your words.
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Just wait until these dead babies start marching... and you'll be eating your words.
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If I was a little younger, I'd make you eat your words and curl your toes.
-
who've been talking smack all week on this show, get out your forks because you're gonna be eating your words big-time!
-
After losing the debate, he had to eat his words and admit the other side was right.
Synonyms
146
4.9
To say that something is true even when you do not want to say it
61
3.5
Say that what you said before was wrong and you no longer believe it
44
8.6
Say publicly that you no longer believe something you said before
38
4.4
Admit that you did something wrong or made a mistake
28
8.0
To say you did something wrong, often after being asked
10
6.5
To try to change a previous statement or position to avoid criticism
4
8.9
To admit you were wrong and feel embarrassed
1
9.3
To take back words you used earlier
1
7.9
To admit you are wrong and feel embarrassed
Antonyms
How Much
- Informal
61
3.5
- US
484
1.8
24
4.1
- Informal
25
5.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
eat + one's + words
The phrase combines the literal words 'eat' and 'words' in a metaphorical way: the image of consuming or taking back one's words suggests retracting a statement. This motivation is somewhat inferable from the constituents but relies on a metaphorical extension that many B1 learners would not fully predict without prior exposure, so it is best labeled semi-transparent.
Etymology
The idiom eat one's words gives a clear image of someone having to eat their words, meaning to swallow what they said after being proved wrong. So it means 'to admit you were wrong'.