(as) hungry as a hunter
Meaning: very hungry.
Example: “I’m as hungry as a hunter.”
Focused Idiom Category
Food and Eating Idioms
Food and eating idioms use meals, ingredients, cooking, hunger, taste, or eating actions to communicate meanings far beyond the kitchen. They may describe something easy, an unpleasant truth, a secret, satisfaction, greed, or the way a person behaves. This collection includes only expressions whose recognised wording or central image is genuinely food-related, so unrelated idioms are not added simply because food appears in an example. Each card gives a short meaning and a complete example sentence, keeping the definition and category context together. The A–Z links make longer lists easy to navigate, while related categories help readers explore animal, everyday, or money expressions with similar practical uses. Food idioms are memorable because their images are familiar, making them especially useful for learners, teachers, writers, and conversational English practice.
18Relevant idioms
A
A Idioms
2 entriesapple of someone’s eye
Meaning: someone’s favourite person or thing.
Example: “Tom is the apple of Mary’s eye.”
B
B Idioms
1 entriesbitter pill to swallow
Meaning: an unpleasant fact that has to be accepted.
Example: “It was a bitter pill for her brother to swallow when she married his enemy.”
C
C Idioms
1 entriescheese-paring
Meaning: mean; niggardly.
Example: “He was too cheese-paring to eat properly.”
D
D Idioms
1 entriesdone to a turn
Meaning: cooked just right.
Example: “This meat is done to a turn.”
E
E Idioms
9 entrieseat humble pie
Meaning: to act very humbly, especially when one has been shown to be wrong; to accept humiliation.
Example: “I think I’m right, but if I’m wrong, I’ll eat humble pie.”
eat like a bird
Meaning: to eat only small amounts of food; to peck at one’s food.
Example: “Jane is very slim because she eats like a bird.”
eat like a horse
Meaning: to eat large amounts of food.
Example: “He eats like a horse.”
eat one’s hat
Meaning: a phrase telling the kind of thing that one would do if a very unlikely event were actually to happen.
Example: “I’ll eat my hat if you get a rise.”
eat one’s heart out
Meaning: to be very sad.
Example: “Bill spent a lot of time eating his heart out after his divorce.”
eat one’s words
Meaning: to have to take back one’s statements; to confess that one’s predictions were wrong.
Example: “I’ll make you eat your words.”
eat out of someone’s hands
Meaning: to do what someone else wants; to obey someone eagerly.
Example: “I’ll have everyone eating out of my hands.”
either feast or famine
Meaning: either too much or not enough.
Example: “Our weather is either feast or famine.”
enough is as good as a feast
Meaning: a saying that means one should be satisfied if one has enough of something to meet one’s needs, and one should not seek more than one needs.
Example: “We have enough money to live on, and enough is as good as a feast.”
F
F Idioms
1 entriesfeast one’s eyes (on someone or something)
Meaning: to look at someone or something with pleasure, envy, or admiration.
Example: “Just feast your eyes on that beautiful juicy steak!”
I
I Idioms
1 entriesin a jam
Meaning: in a tight or difficult situation.
Example: “I’m in a jam.”
S
S Idioms
1 entriessalt of the earth
Meaning: the most worthy of people; a very good or worthy person.
Example: “Mrs. Jones is the salt of the earth.”
T
T Idioms
1 entriesteach one’s grandmother to suck eggs
Meaning: to try to tell or show someone more knowledgeable or experienced than oneself how to do something.
Example: “It will be teaching your grandmother to suck eggs.”
Helpful Answers
Frequently asked questions
What is a food idiom?
A food idiom is a fixed expression that uses food, cooking, hunger, taste, or eating imagery to convey a figurative meaning.
Are food idioms about real eating?
Usually not. The food image is metaphorical, although the same words may also be used literally in another context.
Why are food idioms easy to remember?
They connect an abstract meaning with a familiar taste, meal, ingredient, or action, creating a strong mental picture.
Can I use them in formal writing?
Some are acceptable in general professional writing, while playful or highly conversational idioms are better saved for informal contexts.
How is this category kept relevant?
Only idioms with a clear food or eating image are assigned here, and every idiom receives one primary topic category.
