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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

eat the leek en · VERB

Etymology

From Act V, scene I between Fluellen and Pistol in Shakespeare's play Henry V.

Meanings

  1. To be compelled to take back one's words or put up with insulting treatment.
    • He had eaten his leek and he was anxious to be done with it. 1919, Stanley J. Weyman, “XXXV My Lord Speaks Out”, in The Great House:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
eats the leek Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
eating the leek Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
eaten the leek Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
ate the leek Tense=Past lexicographic