eater

noun

1. 1

   A person or animal who eats.

   a very fussy eater

   "He is the right sort of man for a labourer, but he is a terrible eater, to be sure," thought the farmer.

   "Eaters of human flesh, two things have ye done. First, ye have attacked these strangers, being white men, and would have slain their servant, and for that alone death is your reward."

   Coal-eaters they may have been, but a more willing or harder working Atlantic engine was never designed.

2. 2

   A fruit or other food that is suitable for eating, especially one that is intended to be eaten uncooked.

   The bass is a fine eater.

   For the British market, apples are classed as early, mid-season, or late, and subdivided into eaters or cookers.

3. 3

   A configuration of cells that appears to consume another configuration by gradually causing it to disappear.

   But there are many queen bee configurations in which the debris is neutralized, including placement of a block or eater near the bee's turnaround point, or placing two queen bees in a line or at right angles in various positions and phases.

   The eater can also destroy a snail, but changes its phase while doing so.

   Probably even if it didn't fail catastrophically, any design like this would get stuck in an infinite loop pretty quick, upon hitting its first "cleaner-proof" ash -- an eater pattern that happens to absorb the test reaction without itself being altered.

Forms

plural

eaters