eat up
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eat up verb phrase To bite badly, mangle.
1878 Coale Wilburn Waters 79 Them darned dogs that’s been frightened won’t get as far from us as our shadows for fear the infernal varment will eat ‘em up. 1939 Hall Coll (Deep Creek NC) It was one of our bear hounds, a black and tan hound, and he was just eat up, bloody all over [from a bear fight]. Ibid. (Hartford TN) He come up to a party had been a-fightin’ a bear with dogs, an’ it had eaten up their dogs in a laurel bed. 1953 Hall Coll (Bryson City NC) Part of my dogs were eat up and worn out, and I taken five [of them] and went over. 1977 Shackelford et al Our Appalachia 23 They turned their roosters in there and my grandfather’s roosters just eat them up real quick. 1985 Irwin Alex Stewart 253 When I got there a big dog had a hold of her and was just about to eat her up. 1999 Morgan Gap Creek 10 Sure enough, the dog set up a growl and a bark. He come running from the porch and stood behind the gate snarling. He would have eat up anybody that come through that gate. 2001 Lowry Expressions 5 My mother-in-law was operated on 3 weeks ago, and she was eat mortally up with cancer.