eat alive

eat somebody alive

to criticize someone very angrily If we get our facts wrong we'll be eaten alive by the press.

See also: alive, eat

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eat you alive

1. to cause you to suffer Without my own lawyer, the defendants' lawyers would have eaten me alive in court. The state income tax is just eating me alive, so I think I may move.

2. to bite you repeatedly The only bad thing about camping by the river was the mosquitoes that ate us alive.

Usage notes: used only of insects, as in the example

See also: alive, eat