食う

• Reading: くう
• Romaji: kuu
• Kanji breakdown: 食 (ku/shoku) — eat, food
• Pronunciation: /kɯː/

Meaning

To eat. A rough, masculine way of saying 'to eat.'

A Group 1 (godan) verb conjugated with the う row. A vulgar/casual alternative to 食べる, used predominantly by men in informal settings. Also has figurative meanings: 時間を食う (to eat up time), 虫に食われる (to be bitten by insects). Using 食う in polite company sounds crude, so learners should recognise it but use 食べる in most situations.

Examples

1. 腹が減ったからなにか食おう。 I'm starving — let's grab something to eat.
2. この仕事は時間を食うから早く始めよう。 This job eats up a lot of time, so let's start early.
3. 夏は蚊に食われて大変だった。 Summer was rough — I kept getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Usage Guide

Context: male speech, informal conversations, figurative expressions

Tone: rough

Origin & History

From Old Japanese. One of the oldest verbs for eating in the language. The kanji 食 is shared with 食べる but 食う predates it and retains a raw, unrefined quality.

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal