eat out

What it means

To eat a meal at a restaurant or other place rather than at home. It is mostly used for social meals or convenience, not for grabbing a quick takeaway.

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Examples

• We eat out about once a week, usually on Fridays.
• It's cheaper to cook at home than to eat out every night.
• Let's eat out tonight; I'm too tired to cook anything.
• When they travel, they prefer to eat out at small local places.

Where it comes from

Inseparable, almost always intransitive. The opposite is 'eat in', meaning to eat at home (or, in a cafe, to dine on the premises rather than take away).

Related phrasal verbs