Dictionary

eat someone alive en · VERB

Meanings

1. To consume a prey animal that is still alive, as many predators do.
   • "This's nuts," his father said, but he spoke hollowly, with no strength. "If you go wandering around out there, you'll be eaten alive." "No more than the coyote ate me alive when I got out of the cell," David said. "The danger isn't if I go out there; it's if we all stay in here." 1996, Stephen King, Desperation:
2. (informal, of insects) To consume a prey animal that is still alive, as many predators do. ▸ To bite repeatedly.
   • I had to keep close to the riverbank, under the edge of the jungle, with mosquitoes eating me alive. 2002, Jack Williamson, Dragon's Island and Other Stories, Five Star, published 2002, →ISBN, page 157:
   • “Let's go into the house before these mosquitoes eat us alive.” 1996, Sandra Steffen, Not Before Marriage!, Silhouette Books, published 1996, →ISBN:
   • You may find that in June it rains so hard the streets are filled with a foot of mud and the mosquitoes eat people alive, but in October the place is beautiful. 1992 February, Mark Jenkins, “Beyond the Border: A Primer for Backpacking Abroad”, in Backpacker:
3. (informal) To overwhelm or consume someone.
   • She shook her head wearily, the guilt eating her alive. 2006, Lora Leigh, Megan's Mark, Berkley Sensation, published 2006, →ISBN:
   • [M]any low-income people are "unbanked" (not served by a financial institution), and thus nearly eaten alive by exorbitant fees. 2015 January 18, Charles M. Blow, “How expensive is it to be poor [print version: International New York Times, 20 January 2015, p. 7]”, in The New York Times:
   • "How's Abby holding up?" "She almost isn't." Keith sounded exhausted. "The guilt's eating her alive. […] 2009, Moira Rogers, Sanctuary Lost, Samhain Publishing, Ltd., published 2009, →ISBN, page 38:
   • Eventually, Randy moved through the shock and began to see that anger was eating him alive and poisoning his life. 2007, Lynn Anderson, They Smell Like Sheep, Volume 2: Leading with the Heart of a Shepherd, Howard Books, published 2007, →ISBN, page 169:
4. (informal) To criticize harshly or rebuke strongly.
   • However, the album never even made it onto the record charts, and the critics ate her alive. 2001, Mark Bego, Cher: If You Believe, Taylor Trade Publishing, published 2004, →ISBN, page 141:
   • For nearly the entire full four years of Frank's administration, the local media ate him alive for even the slightest misstep. 2011, Stephanie Parker-Weaver, Rebirth: "A Breast Cancer Journey of Many; Survival of Few": A Mississippi Civil Rights Activist's Biggest Battle How She Beat the Odds, Xlibris, published 2011, →ISBN, page 283:
   • The media ate them alive. Sympathetic coverage, like Emily White's 1992 L.A. Weekly cover story, devolved into patronizing, parasitic parodies of "pink, frilly bedrooms." 2010 October 10, Evelyn McDonnell, “Book Review: 'Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution' by Sara Marcus”, in Los Angeles Times:

Forms

Synonyms

criticize (criticize harshly or rebuke strongly)

Translations (2)

ru разнести в пух и прах (To criticize harshly or rebuke strongly) · es comer vivo (To bite repeatedly)