to eat well
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To have a good appetite. But "It eats well" means that what is eaten is agreeable or flavorous. To "eat badly" is to eat without appetite or too little.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to eat well” mean?
To have a good appetite. But "It eats well" means that what is eaten is agreeable or flavorous. To "eat badly" is to eat without appetite or too little.
Is “to eat well” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.