Etymology

eat someone out of house and home

Today it means: To consume so much of someone's store of food that little or none is left for the owner. Full definition →

Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

Appears in The Second Shepherds' Play by The Wakefield Master (1400-1450), later used by the English playwright William Shakespeare (1564 (baptised) – 1616) in his play Henry IV, Part 2 (c. 1596–1599): see the quotation.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.