Eat Like A Horse

Meaning of Idiom ‘Eat Like a Horse’

To eat like a horse means to eat a large amount of food or to have a very large appetite. ¹,²

Compare to:

I Could Eat a Horse.
Eat Like a Bird.

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Examples Of Use

“If Ben is coming to visit you better buy extra food. He eats like a horse.”

“I had the oddest first date ever. The woman completely ignored me and ate like a horse.”

Origin

Used since the early 1700s.

The idiom alludes to the idea that horses eat a lot. They seem to eat constantly and will eat whatever is available. The idiom used as an antonym, eat like a bird, is technically inaccurate. Relative to their body weight, horses do not eat as much as a bird does! ³

More Idioms Starting with E

• Every Little Thing
• Even a Broken Clock Is Right Twice a Day
• Every Name in the Book, been called
• Egg On
• Egg On Your Face, to have

More Appetite Related Idioms

• Eat Like A Bird

More Animal Idioms

• Copycat
• Scaredy-Cat
• Play Cat and Mouse
• Look What the Cat Dragged In
• Down the Rabbit Hole
• Beat a Dead Horse

More Eat/Eating Idioms

• Eat Up
• Proof is in the Pudding, the
• Eat Crow
• Eat Humble Pie
• Stick to Your Ribs

More Food Related Idioms

• I Could Murder (A Food/Drink)
• Go Pear-shaped
• Chopped Liver
• Low-Hanging Fruit
• Know Which Side Your Bread is Buttered On
• Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel
• Bread and Butter

More Horse Idioms

• Beat a Dead Horse
• I’m Going to See a Man About a Horse (Dog, Duck) Meaning
• If Wishes Were Horses
• A Shoo-in
• Rarin’ To Go

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References

1. Brenner, Gail Abel. Webster’s New World American Idioms Handbook. Wiley, 2003.
2. Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth M. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms. Ware: Wordsworth, 1995.
3. Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.