Eat like a horse
Meaning
To eat a very large amount of food.
Origin
Horses, with their large frames and active lifestyles, are known for their prodigious appetites, spending many hours each day grazing and consuming vast quantities of hay, grass, and grains. This readily observable characteristic—the sheer volume of food a horse eats—became a natural and powerful metaphor. The phrase simply draws on this common understanding, likening a human's extraordinary hunger or capacity for food to the constant, voluminous eating habits of a horse, creating a vivid and easily understood simile for a voracious eater.
Examples
- After hiking all day, I was so hungry I ate like a horse at dinner.
- Despite her small stature, my sister can really eat like a horse when she's stressed.