20 English Verbs To Describe Eating And Drinking

Learn 20 English verbs to describe eating and drinking. Intermediate and advanced words that are used by natives on a daily basis to expand and enrich your vocabulary.

I will give you easy-to-understand explanations and examples. Learn common English words for daily conversation.

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List of eating verbs

20 English Verbs To Describe Eating

This is an advanced English lesson where I will give you 20 English verbs relating to eating and drinking.

These are verbs that you can use or you can use to describe the way you or somebody else eats and drinks. Some of them are informal, and some of them are a little bit more formal.

I’ll give you the verb, and I’ll tell you what type of food that it refers to or what eating action refers to. So 20 English verbs to describe eating and drinking. 

to bite

Meaning: to seize food with your teeth and jaws and then eat it

  • to bite into your food
  • to bite a big chunk of cake

Example:

She bit a piece of cake, and it was delicious.

to bolt (down)

Meaning: to eat your food very, very quickly

Example:

It’s okay, it’s okay. They’ll wait for you. Don’t bolt down your food. You’ll choke.

to chomp (on)

Meaning: to chew the food several times

  • to chomp your breakfast
  • to chomp on the lettuce

Examples:

The horses chomped on the grass.

The football manager noisily chomped on his chewing gum.

to choke down

Meaning: to eat something with difficulty

Examples:

He had no words. He choked down his food silently and fled the kitchen.

He choked down his food and went back to work.

20 English Verbs To Describe Eating

20 English verbs to describe eating and drinking. Improve English speaking. Advanced English lessons on Zoom and Skype. Improve English speaking and writing skills. #learnenglish

to demolish

Meaning: (informal) to quickly eat all the food you have been given

Examples:

Wow, you demolished that cake very quickly.

I used to get into bed and demolish a whole packet of biscuits before I went to sleep.

to devour

Meaning: to eat hungrily and/or quickly

Examples:

The kids devoured a plate of cookies in five minutes.

Wow, you devoured those. Will you be able to eat your dinner later?

to dig in (into)

Meaning: (informal) to start eating food with great enthusiasm

Examples:

2, 4, 6, 8, dig in, don’t wait!

Help yourself. Don’t wait for me. Just dig in and eat what you can.

to force down

Meaning: to eat or drink something even though you do not want to

to force down the food/drink

Examples:

Kids don’t like taking medicine, so they have to force it down.

I’ve forced down some toast. I really couldn’t face anything else. Maybe I’ll have something to eat tomorrow.

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to gobble (down)

Meaning: to eat your food very quickly

Example:

Little Johnny gobbled his dinner and went out to play with his friends.

to gulp (down)

Meaning: to loudly and quickly swallow large quantities of food, drink or air

to gulp down a cold drink

Example:

Okay, guys. You have to drink with your food, but don’t gulp it down.

to guzzle (down)

Meaning: to drink a lot and very quickly 

Example:

He guzzled two beers to quench his thirst.

Meaning: (about cars) to use a lot of petrol/gas

Example:

Wow, that car guzzles petrol. You must be filling it twice a week.

to munch (on)

Meaning: to chew your food loudly

  • to munch on biscuits
  • to munch on chips (crisps), cereal

Example:

When I’m watching a movie on a Saturday night, I like to munch on a bag of chips.

to nibble

Meaning: to eat delicately by taking very small bites

  • to nibble on cheese
  • to nibble on light snacks

Example:

Have you got something small? I’ll nibble on it, I don’t have a big appetite.

to peck at

Meaning: to eat only a small amount of meal

Example: 

He just pecks at the vegetables. But if you put a plate of chips, he’ll eat them all.

He has been ill for a while, so he pecks at the food and then pushes the plate to one side.

to pick at

Meaning: to eat small portions of food because it’s not tasty or you’ve got no appetite

Example:

She broke up with her boyfriend three days ago, and she’s only been picking at her food ever since.

to savour

Meaning: to enjoy the taste or the smell of something just before you swallow

Examples:

He savoured every bite of the delicious steak.

They savoured every mouthful of the chef’s desert.

20 English Verbs To Describe Eating

20 English verbs to describe eating and drinking. Improve English speaking. Advanced English lessons on Zoom and Skype. Improve English speaking and writing skills. #learnenglish

to scoff

Meaning: (British English) to eat something quickly so that nobody else can get it

Examples:

He scoffed down all the sweets, and he didn’t offer any of them to his siblings.

She scoffed all of the cupcakes she hid for her three children.

to snack on sth

Meaning: to take bites of small things to take the edge off your appetite

Examples:

If you want to lose weight, you have to stop snacking between meals.

If you need to snack on something, snack on fruit or healthy nuts.

to tuck in/into sth

Meaning: (British English) to eat food with enthusiasm because you like it or because you are hungry

Examples:

It’s a cold night, there’s some food for you there. So please tuck in.

They tucked into lunch at a mountain restaurant.

to wolf (down)

Meaning: to eat like a savage

Examples:

As soon as you put the food on the table, they wolf it down.

They wolfed down a plate of sausages in a few minutes.

speak better English with Harry podcast- episode 416

Okay, so there we have 20 English verbs that you can use to describe eating and drinking.

You have to try and practise them. You won’t use them all, but you will associate some of them with the action of your friend, your family, and particularly your kids so try to use them.

This is Harry saying goodbye. Thanks for listening and join me for the next lesson.

more information

For more information on English grammar rules, English collocations and English idioms, check out the links below:

Advanced English expressions with DOWN

Collocations with Say, Speak, Talk and Tell

English vocabulary related to driving

You can always study English advanced level at Learning English with the BBC and British Council Learn English.

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