See eat one's heart out in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "Disputed. Three schools of thought exist:\n* From \"This will eat your heart out.\", suggesting that the recipient of the taunt will have their heart, the core of their being, eaten out with desire, bitterness, or pain.\n* From the 16th century \"to eat one's own heart\" (to suffer in silence from anguish or grief), possibly from the Bible \"to eat one's own flesh\" (to be lazy). The phrase \"to eat one's heart out\" appears as a formulaic phrase in the Iliad, meaning to experience extreme grief. (For instance, Iliad.24.128, and many other locations.)\n* When used as the taunt \"Eat your heart out, [someone]!\" a suggestion that the recipient of the taunt \"eat up\" as much as they like. Figuratively more akin to \"experience me besting you.\"",
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"ref": "1861, Harriet Martineau, “The soldier and sailor: their health”, in Once a Week (Series 1, Volume IV):",
"text": "People in ordinary life who pine for want of something to do and to care about, are subject to ailments which are called “the maladies of ennui.” These are real diseases, though arising from moral causes. The brain wears upon itself, the nerves become disordered, and the various bodily functions are disturbed, just as in the case of a restless prisoner who is said to “eat his heart out” in captivity.",
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"ref": "1900, Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men on the Bummel:",
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"ref": "2001 August 18, Jim Davis, Garfield:",
"text": "Jon: We got a postcard from Doc Boy! He’s vacationing in Loogieville, Indiana…says he had his picture taken with the world’s largest corn cob\nGarfield: Eiffel Tower, eat your heart out",
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"To feel overwhelming sorrow, jealousy, or longing; to grieve."
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"(idiomatic) To feel overwhelming sorrow, jealousy, or longing; to grieve."
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{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "shāngxīn",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "傷心 /伤心"
},
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"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"lang_code": "nl",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "lekker puh"
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"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"lang_code": "nl",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "nou jij weer"
},
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"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "kärsiä"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "tuntea tuskaa"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "sirotella tuhkaa päällensä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "se ronger le cœur"
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"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "vor Neid erblassen"
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"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"lang_code": "he",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "אכל את הלב"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"lang_code": "it",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "rodersi il fegato"
},
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"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "zadręczać się"
},
{
"code": "pl",
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"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "zadręczyć się"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"lang_code": "pt",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "morrer de inveja"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"lang_code": "ro",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "muri de ciudă"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"lang_code": "ro",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "crăpa de ciudă"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"lang_code": "ro",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "băga unghia în gât"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "gorevátʹ",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "горева́ть"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "pečálitʹsja",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "печа́литься"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"lang_code": "sv",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "slänga sig i väggen"
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]
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"word": "eat one's heart out"
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{
"etymology_text": "Disputed. Three schools of thought exist:\n* From \"This will eat your heart out.\", suggesting that the recipient of the taunt will have their heart, the core of their being, eaten out with desire, bitterness, or pain.\n* From the 16th century \"to eat one's own heart\" (to suffer in silence from anguish or grief), possibly from the Bible \"to eat one's own flesh\" (to be lazy). The phrase \"to eat one's heart out\" appears as a formulaic phrase in the Iliad, meaning to experience extreme grief. (For instance, Iliad.24.128, and many other locations.)\n* When used as the taunt \"Eat your heart out, [someone]!\" a suggestion that the recipient of the taunt \"eat up\" as much as they like. Figuratively more akin to \"experience me besting you.\"",
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388
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"ref": "1861, Harriet Martineau, “The soldier and sailor: their health”, in Once a Week (Series 1, Volume IV):",
"text": "People in ordinary life who pine for want of something to do and to care about, are subject to ailments which are called “the maladies of ennui.” These are real diseases, though arising from moral causes. The brain wears upon itself, the nerves become disordered, and the various bodily functions are disturbed, just as in the case of a restless prisoner who is said to “eat his heart out” in captivity.",
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"text": "Jon: We got a postcard from Doc Boy! He’s vacationing in Loogieville, Indiana…says he had his picture taken with the world’s largest corn cob\nGarfield: Eiffel Tower, eat your heart out",
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"(idiomatic) To feel overwhelming sorrow, jealousy, or longing; to grieve."
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{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "shāngxīn",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "傷心 /伤心"
},
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"code": "nl",
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"lang_code": "nl",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "lekker puh"
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"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"lang_code": "nl",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "nou jij weer"
},
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"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "kärsiä"
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{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "tuntea tuskaa"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "sirotella tuhkaa päällensä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "se ronger le cœur"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "vor Neid erblassen"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"lang_code": "he",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "אכל את הלב"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"lang_code": "it",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "rodersi il fegato"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "zadręczać się"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "zadręczyć się"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"lang_code": "pt",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "morrer de inveja"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"lang_code": "ro",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "muri de ciudă"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"lang_code": "ro",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "crăpa de ciudă"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"lang_code": "ro",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "băga unghia în gât"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "gorevátʹ",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "горева́ть"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "pečálitʹsja",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "печа́литься"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"lang_code": "sv",
"sense": "feel overwhelming negative emotion",
"word": "slänga sig i väggen"
}
],
"word": "eat one's heart out"
}
Download raw JSONL data for eat one's heart out meaning in English (6.9kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (872fc7b and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.