Eat out of house and home

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Meaning

To gobble all the food or drain a place.

Origin

From 16th-century England, tied to Shakespeare's 'Henry IV' (1590s); 'out of house and home' for drain, slang by 1600s for eat. A 1630s text uses it for a feast.

Variants

  • Eat out

Usage Examples

  • He'll eat us out of house and home; big eater!
  • Eat out of house-food's gone.
  • House and home; ate it all.

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