Eat out meaning
Eat out means to have a meal in a restaurant or café, not at home.
eat out
eat out · ate · eaten · eating
We eat out every Friday night.
Eat out meanings and examples
One meaning, each with its own CEFR level from Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries and the Cambridge Dictionary.
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1
Have a meal in a restaurant or café, not at home
eat out
- We eat out every Friday night.
- Do you want to eat out or cook tonight?
- They don’t eat out much since the baby was born.
Café orders
New friends
At the airport
Slova
Use eat out in real conversations
- Learn new words with picture cards
- Talk with Felix, an AI tutor, about the things you love
- Short lessons at your level, a few minutes a day
Is eat out separable?
Eat out has no object. Do not put the food after it: We ate out. To say where, add at or in: eat out at a Thai place.
Eat out is different from eat outside. Eat outside means have a meal in the open air, for example in the garden.
Verb tenses for eat out
| Present | I eat out · she eats out |
|---|---|
| Past | ate out |
| Present perfect | have eaten out |
| -ing form | eating out |
Common mistakes with eat out
What learners often say, and what to say instead.
Wrong: We ate out pizza last night.
Right: We went out for pizza last night.
Eat out has no object; to name the food, say go out for.
Wrong: It’s sunny, so let’s eat out in the garden.
Right: It’s sunny, so let’s eat outside in the garden.
In the open air is eat outside; eat out means at a restaurant.
Wrong: Eating out is too expensive for to do every week.
Right: Eating out is too expensive to do every week.
Use too + adjective + to; no for.
Synonyms and opposites of eat out
Words close to it, and words that mean the opposite.
Similar
- go out for dinnerleave home to have dinner somewhere
- dine outa more formal way to say eat out
- get a takeawayUK, buy restaurant food to eat at home
Opposite
- eat inhave a meal at home
- cook at homemake your own food at home
Eat out quiz
Three quick questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why.
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1I’m too tired to cook. Let’s ___ tonight.
Eat out means have a meal at a restaurant.
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2Choose the right sentence.
Eat out has no object; add at + place.
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3“We’re trying to save money, so we’re eating in more.” What are they doing?
Eat in is the opposite of eat out: eat at home.
More phrasal verbs with eat
2 phrasal verbs start with eat. Test yourself on all of them in a few minutes.
Eat out FAQ
Questions people ask about eat out.
What is the difference between eat out and eat outside?
Eat out means eat at a restaurant. Eat outside means eat in the open air, like on a balcony.
Is eating out a noun?
Yes, eating out can be a noun: Eating out is expensive in London.
What is the opposite of eat out?
Eat in, or eat at home. Some takeaways ask: Eat in or take away?
Use eat out in real conversations
In Slova you learn new words with picture cards, then use them when you talk about the things you love. A few minutes a day, at your level.