easy-chair 
I set the Child an easy Chair 
Against the Fire, and dry d his Hair. 
1'riitf, cupid Turn'd Stroller. 
Whether thou choose CervanU'8 1 serious air, 
Or laugh and shake In Rabelais' easy-dun r. 
Pope, Dunciad, I. 19. 
easy-going (e'zi-gd'ini?), a. Inclined to take 
matters in an easy way, without jar or friction; 
good-natured. 
After the cagif-ffoi'wf fashion of his day, he [Gray] was 
more lilvly to eonsider his salary as another form of pen- 
sion. Lowell, New Princeton Hev., I. H;4. 
The flavor of Old Virginia !> unmistakable, and life 
ilrnps into an c<Mi/-'/r>m'; pace under this intluenee. 
C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 205. 
eat (et), c. ; pret. ate (at) or cat (et), pp. eaten 
(sometimes cat), ppr. eating. [Early mod. E. 
also eate, etc; < ME. cten (pret. et, eet, (et, pi. etc, 
eten, pp. eten), < AS. etan (prot. a't, pi. ceton, pp. 
eten) = OS. etan = OFries. ita, eta, NFries. ytten 
= MLG. LG. eten = D. eten = OHG. ezan, ezzan, 
MHG. ezzen, G. essen = Icel. eta = Sw. dta = 
Dan. aide = Goth, itan = L. edere = Gr. Ifeiv = 
Gael, and Ir. ith = Slav. / 'jad, *ed = Skt. V ad, 
eat. Cf. etch 1 , frefl, edible, etc. ; all from the 
same ult. root.] I. trans. 1. To masticate and 
swallow as nourishment ; partake of or devour as 
food: said especially of solids : as, to eat bread. 
But he toke him three Groynes of the same Tree that 
his Fadre eet the Appelle offe. ilandeeille, Travels, p. 11. 
They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen. Dan. Iv. 25. 
Venator. On my word, master, this is a gallant Trout ; 
what shall we do with him? 
Piscator. Marry, e'en eat him to supper. 
/. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 77. 
2. To corrode; wear away; gnaw into; con- 
sume; waste: generally with away, out, up, or 
into : as, rust has eaten away the surface ; lines 
eaten out by aqua fortis; these cares eat up all 
my time. 
A great admirer he is of the rust of old Monuments, and 
reades onely those Characters where time hath eaten ovt 
the letters. 
Dp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, An Antiquary. 
Who eat up my people as they eat bread. Ps. xiv. 4. 
Which I, in capital letters, 
Will eat into thy flesh with aquafortis, 
And burning corsives. B. Jonson, Volpone, lii. 6. 
As I sealed the Alps, my Thoughts reflected upon Han- 
nibal, who, with Vinegar and Strong Waters, did eat out a 
Passage thro' those II ill-.. Howell, Letters, I. L 43. 
The taxes were so intollerable that they eate up the 
rents. Evelyn, Wary, Sept. 17, 1655. 
The great business of the sea Is ... confined to eating 
away the margin of the coast, and planing it down to a 
depth of perhaps a hundred fathoms. 
Huxley, Physiography, p. 183. 
To eat crow, seerrows. To eat dirt. See dirt. To 
eat humble-pie, see humlile-pie.lo eat one out of 
house and home, to ruin one by the cost of supporting 
or entertaining others. 
Thy wife's friends will eat thee out ofhoime and home. 
Burton, Auat. of Mel., p. 644. 
To eat one's head Off, to cost more in feeding than one 
is wortli : said usually of an animal, particularly a horse. 
My mare has eaten her head off at the Ax in Alderman- 
bury. Country Farmer's Catechism, 
To eat one's heart, to brood over one's sorrows or dis- 
appointments. 
He could not rest ; but did hit stout heart eat. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. II. 6. 
I will not eat my heart alone, 
Nor feed witli sighs a passing wind. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, cviii. 
To eat one's terms, in the English inns of court, to go 
through the prescribed amount of study preparatory to 
being called to the bar : in allusion to the number of din- 
ners a student must eat in the public hall of his society 
each term in order that the term may count as such. 
Together, save for college times, 
Or Temple-eaten terms. 
Tennyson, Aylmers Field. 
To eat one's words, to take back what one has uttered ; 
retract one's assertions. 
I'll eat no uvrds for you, nor no men. 
B. Jonson, Eplcoene, v. 1. 
Would I were a man, 
I'd make him cat hi* knave's icortts! 
Beau, and Fl., Scornful Lady, iv. 1. 
If you find such a man in close and cordial influence 
with the masses, write me. and ttiese mml will be eaten 
with pleasure ! H. ". /.v.'.v,, v .\\ Timothy, p. -Ji. 
To eat sour grapes. See tirapel. =Syn. Eat, Bite, Chew. 
Vnaie, Devour, Gobblf, Continue. Eat Is the general 
word. To bite is to set the teeth into. To chew Is to grind 
with the teeth. To gnaw is to bite off little by little, to 
work ut with tin- teeth, where the substance is hard or 
muii:i'., r e<i \vith ilitlieiilty and there is little or nothing to 
be got : as, to irnaw a bone. To demur is to eat up, to eat 
eagerly or voraciously. To ttobbl? is to ent hurriedly or 
offensively, as in large places. To mistime is to ent up, 
to eat completely, /i/'e, rlu 'it; ;iml 'rnuic do not imply 
swallowing ; the others do. 
One cannot eat one's eake anil haw it too. 
liH-kfrstaff, Thomas and Sally. 
Truth has rough flavours if we bile it through. 
Oeorqe Eliot, Armgart, ii. 
115 
1825 
Rome honks are to lw> tasted, others to be swallowed, 
and some few to be cheu-ed and digested. 
Bacon, Studies (ed. 1887). 
Gnaicin'i with my teeth my bonds In sunder, 
I galn'd my freedom. Shak., C. of E., v. 1. 
The miserable soldiers, after devouring all the horses in 
the city, are reduced to the degradation of feeding on dogs, 
cats, raU, etc. Sumner, Orations, I. 28. 
And supper gobbled up in haste. Swift, Ladies' Journal. 
Those few escaped 
Famine and anguish will at last consume. 
MUton, P. L, xi. 778. 
II. intrans. 1. To take food; feed. 
He did eat continually at the king's table. 2 Sam. ix. 13. 
Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? 
Mat. Ix. 11. 
Their daunccs ended, they deuoure the meate, for they 
hnd not eate in three dayes before. 
Purehas, Pilgrimage, p. 773. 
2. To make way by corrosion; gnaw; pene- 
trate or excavate by disorganization or destruc- 
tion of substance: as, a cancer eats into the 
flesh. 
Their word will eat as doth a canker. 2 Tim. IL 17. 
The ulcer, eating thro' my skin, 
Betray'd my secret penance. 
Tennyson, St. Simeon Stylltes. 
3. To taste: relish: as, it eats like the finest 
peach. [Colloq.] 
The Chub, though he eat well thus dressed, yet as he 11 
usually dressed, he does not. 
/. (Fa/ton, Complete Angler, p. 68. 
While the tender Wood-pigeon's cooing cry 
Has made me say to myself, with a sigh, 
" How nice you would eat with a steak in a pie ! " 
Harhain, Ingoldsby Legends, L 114. 
Soup and potatoes eat better hot than cold. Jtutnell. 
Eating days. See dayi. To eat up Into the wind 
(naut.), to gain to windward to an unusual degree. 
There are craft that from their model and balance of 
sail . . . seem to eat up into the wind. 
Qitaltroitffh, Boat-Sailer's Manual, p. 9. 
eatable (e'ta-bl), a. and n. [< eat + -able.'] 
1. a. Fit to b'e eaten; edible ; proper for food; 
esculent. 
What flsh can any shore, or British sea-town show, 
That's eatable to us, that It doth not bestow 
Abundantly thereon ? Drayton, Polyolbion, xxv. 158. 
II. n. Anythingthatmay be eaten; that which 
is fit for or used as food. 
Eatables we brought away, but the earthen vessels we 
had no occasion for. Dampier, Voyages, an. 1686. 
eatage (e'taj), n. [A corruption (as if < eat + 
-age) of edige, eddish: see eddish.] Food for 
horses and cattle from aftermath. See eddish. 
The immense eatage obtained from seeds the same year 
they are sown and after the flax is pulled. 
Economist, Feb. 1, 1852. 
eat-beet, . [< eat, v., + obj. beel.] Amerope 
or bee-eater (which see). Florio. 
eaten (e'tn). Past participle of eat. 
eater (e'ter), n. K ME. etere, < AS. etere (= D. 
eter = G. esser = Dan. eeder = Sw. atare), eat- 
er, < etan, eat.] 1. One who eats; specifical- 
ly, a menial ; a servant. Compare beef-eater. 
Ase byeth the mochele driukeres and eteres. 
Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 47. 
Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of 
flesh. Prov. xxiii. 20. 
Where are all my eaters? my mouths, now? 
B. Jonson, Epicoene, lii. 2. 
Menials appear to have been treated formerly with very 
little ceremony; they were stripped and beaten at their 
master's pleasure; and cormorants, eaters, and feeders 
were among the civilcst names bestowed upon them. 
Oi/ord, Note to B. Jonson s Every Man out of his 
[Humour, v. 1. 
2. That which eats or corrodes; a corrosive, 
eatht (eTH), a. [< ME. eth, (eth, eath, < AS. edthe 
= OS. odhi = OHG. odi, easv. Connection of 
this word with OHG. odi, MHG. cede, G. ode, 
empty, desolate, = Dan. Sw. ode = Icel. audhr 
= Goth. iinHi.i, desolate, barren, is doubtful. 
There is no connection with ease: see ease.'] 
Easy. 
That kud knijt is eth to know by his kene dedes. 
William of Palerne, 1. 3571. 
More eath it were for mortall wight 
To tell the sands, or count the starres on hye. 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. xi. 63. 
All hard assaycs esteem I eath and light. 
Fairfax, tr. of Tasso, il. 46. 
eatht (eTH), adr. [< ME. ethe, eatlie, ytlie, < AS. 
edtlic, cthc, edth, eth, easily, < edthe, easy: see 
eath, a.] Easily. 
Who thinks him most secure, is eathest sham'd. 
Fairfax, tr. of Tasso, x. 42. 
eathlyt (oTH'li), adr. Easily. HalliicrU. 
eating (e'ting), . [< ME. etynge; verbal n. of 
rut. <.] 1. The act of consuming food, espe- 
cially solid food. 
eaves-drip 
Wat turncth a man to licestii kindc 
But etyn<ff V ilr> liking out of sesoun? 
llyinns to Viryin, etc. (E. E. T. 8.), p. 84. 
2. That which may be eaten; food: as, the 
birds were delicious eating. 
The French love good eating they are all gourmands. 
Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vll. 17. 
And she and I the banquet-scene completing 
With dreamy words and very pleasant eatinrj. 
T. B. Aldrich, The Lunch. 
eating (e'ting), p. a. [Ppr. of eat, v.] Corrod- 
ing ; caustic. 
The eating force of flames, and wings of winds. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, III. 3. 
Ever, against eating cares, 
Lap me in soft Lydian airs. 
Milton, L' Allegro, 1. 135. 
eating-house (e'ting-hous), n. A house where 
food is served to customers ; a place of resort 
for meals ; a restaurant. 
Eaton code. See code. 
eau (6), n. ; pi. eaux (6z). [F., < L. //, water: 
see aqua.] vVater: a word designating various 
spirituous waters, particularly perfumes and 
cordials ; it also enters into several French he- 
raldic phrases Eau Creole, a highly esteemed cordial 
made in Martinique, West Indies, by distilling the flowers 
of the mammee-apple(J/ammea Americana) with spirit of 
wine. Eau de Cologne, Cologne water. See cologne. 
Eau de Javelle, in pnar., a solution prepared by mixing, 
in suitable proportions, potassium carbonate, bleaching- 
powder, and water. The solution after filtration contains 
salt, potassium carbonate, and potassium hypocblorlte. 
It is used chiefly as an antiseptic and a bleaching agent. 
Msojavelle's water. Eau deLuce (from I<u,the name 
of the Inventor), a compound of mastic, alcohol, oil of lav- 
ender, oil of amber, and aqua ammonite. It is stimulant 
and antispasmodfc. Also called spiritus ammoniai sued- 
natus and ai/ua Lucia. Eau de Paris, a substitute for 
eau de Cologne and similar cosmetics. It is sometimes 
taken in sweetened water as a cordial and stimulant. 
eau-de-vie (6'de-ve'), [F-, lit- water of life : 
eau, water (see eau) ; de, of; vie, < L. vita, life.] 
The French name for brandy: specifically ap- 
plied to the coarser and less purified varieties 
of brandy, the term cognac being generally ap- 
plied to fine grades Eau-de-vie de Dantzig, a 
white liqueur or cordial, sweet and strong, in which are 
introduced for ornament small particles of gold-leaf. 
Eau-de-vie d'Hendaye. a sweet cordial of which there 
are three varieties white, which contains the least alco- 
hol ; green, which is the strongest ; and yellow. 
eaux, n. Plural of eau. 
eavet, v. t. [< eaves.] To shelter, as beneath 
eaves. Davies. [Bare.] 
His hat shap't almost like a cone, . . . 
With narrow rim scarce wide enough 
To earn from rain the staring ruff. 
T. Ward, England's Reformation, p. 102. 
eavedropt, v. See eavesdrop. 
eaver (e ver), n. [E. dial.] Rye-grass. Halli- 
ir/ell. [Devonshire, Eng.] 
Neither doth it fall behind in meadow-ground and pas- 
turage, clover, eaver, and trefoil-grass. 
Defoe, Tour through Great Britain, I. 362. 
eaves (evz), n. pi. [Early mod. E. also eres; < 
ME. ere.se, eovese, pi. ereses, eaves of a house, 
edge (of a hill, a wood, etc.), < AS. efese, yfese, 
eaves, edge, = OFries. ose = MLG. ovesc, LG. 
oese, ese = OHG. obasa, obosa, obisa. opasa, oposa, 
opesa, obsa, MHG. obse, G. dial, obesen, obsen, a 
porch (G. dial, ouseh, itesch, a cutter along the 
eaves), = Icel. p = Sw. dial, uffs, eaves, = 
Goth, ubizwa, a porch, prob. < Goti. /, under, 
= OHG. oba, opa, MHG. obe, G. often, above (cf. 
G. ob-dach, a shelter), etc. : see over, from the 
same ult. source. This word is prop, singular, 
but, like riches, etc., it is treated as plural, the 
formative suffix -es being mistaken for the plu- 
ral suffix.] If. Edge; border; margin. 
Anne forsothe sat beside the wete eehe dai in the euese 
of the hil. W, Tobit xi 6 (Oxf.). 
Tims laykez this lorde by lynde wodez [lind-wood's] euez. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight, L 1178. 
Specifically 2. The lower edge of a roof; that 
part of the roof of a building which projects 
beyond the wall and sheds the water that falls 
on the roof; hence, figuratively, any projecting 
rim. 
His tears run down his beard, like winter's drops 
From eaoes of reeds. Shak., Tempest, v. 1. 
Shrowded under an obscure cloke, and the eves of an old 
hat. 11. Jomon, Fortunate Isles. 
Sombre streets of palaces with overhanging fawn, that, 
almost meeting, form a shelter from the fiercest sun. 
J. A. Symondu, Italy and Greece, p. 283. 
eaves-board, eaves-catch (evz'bord, -kach), 
n. An arris-fillet, or a thick board with a fea- 
ther-edge, nailed across the rafters at the eaves 
of a roof to raise the course of slates a little. 
Also called eaves-lath. 
eaves-drip (evz'drip), n. [ME. not found ; < 
AS. efe&-, yfes-dri/fid, ii/rs-dropa (= Icel. i 
