comer

From Middle English comere, equivalent to come +‎ -er.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌmɚ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌmə(ɹ)

comer (plural comers)

1. One in a race who is catching up to others and shows promise of winning.
2. (figuratively) One who is catching up in some contest and has a likelihood of victory.
   • 2004 August 9 & 16, The New Yorker, page 40:

     The transition from comer to also-ran can be quick.

   • 2004 December 6, The New Yorker, page 105:

     Django, then, was not just a comer; he was a cause.

3. One who arrives.

   The champ will face all comers.

   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers:

     It was soon apparent that no every day comer was at the door. One servant whispered […] it was the bishop […]

   • 1959 August, American Heritage, volume 10, number 5:

     Sullivan went on an unprecedented barnstorming tour across the country, taking on all comers and offering $1,000 to anyone who stayed four rounds, Queensberry rules.

• dot-comer (etymologically unrelated)

• crome

From Vulgar Latin *comēre, restructuring of Latin comedere.

• IPA^(key): /koˈmeɾ/ [koˈmeɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: co‧mer

comer (first-person singular indicative present como, past participle comíu)

1. to eat

• “comer” in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana (1ª edición). Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000). →ISBN.

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese comer, from Vulgar Latin *comēre, restructuring of Latin comedere. Compare Portuguese comer.

• IPA^(key): [koˈmeɾ]

comer (first-person singular present como, first-person singular preterite comín, past participle comido)
comer (first-person singular present como, first-person singular preterite comim or comi, past participle comido, reintegrationist norm)

1. to eat

• dar de comer

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “comer”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “comer”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “comer”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “comer”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “comer”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• “comer” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “comer”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

From Vulgar Latin *comēre, restructuring of Latin comedere.

comer

1. to eat

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *comēre, restructuring of Latin comedere. Cognate with Old Spanish comer.

• IPA^(key): /koˈmeɾ/
• Rhymes: -eɾ

comer

1. to eat

• Galician: comer
• Portuguese: comer (see there for further descendants)

• Universo Cantigas - "comer"

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *comēre, restructuring of Latin comedere. Cognate with Old Galician-Portuguese comer.

• IPA^(key): /koˈmeɾ/

comer

1. to eat

• Ladino: komer, kumer
• Spanish: comer (see there for further descendants)

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese comer, from Vulgar Latin *comēre, restructuring of Latin comedere.

Cognate with Galician, Mirandese, Asturian, and Spanish comer and Mirandese quemer.

• Hyphenation: co‧mer

comer (first-person singular present como, first-person singular preterite comi, past participle comido)

1. (ambitransitive) to eat

   Synonym: alimentar-se

   1. (intransitive) to consume meals

      Já comi hoje, obrigado. ― I've already eaten today, thanks.

   2. (transitive) to consume a specific food

      Você come carne? ― Do you eat meat?

      Estou com vontade de comer um pedaço de torta. ― I feel like eating a slice of pie.

   3. (intransitive, Brazil) to eat some [with de ‘of a food’]

      Você comeu da carne? ― Did you eat some of the meat?

2. (transitive, chess, board games) to capture (eliminate a piece from the game)

   Synonym: capturar

   Agora comi-te a torre. ― Now I have captured your rook.

3. (transitive) to corrode; to eat away, to destroy (to slowly destroy)

   Synonym: corroer

   A chuva comeu a grade. ― The rain ate away the grate.

   Aquela pneumonia comeu sua saúde. ― That pneumonia has destroyed his health.

4. (transitive, by extension, colloquial) to use up; to eat up; to consume

   Synonyms: consumir, usar, utilizar

   Já comi todo o meu salário. ― I have already eaten up my entire salary.

   Este carro não come muita gasolina. ― This car doesn't use much petrol.

5. (transitive, Brazil, colloquial) to miss a letter or other symbol in writing
   • 2019 February 3, Caio Barbieri, “David ou Davi? Por que o novo presidente do Senado comeu a letra “D””, in Metrópoles‎^[1], Brasília, archived from the original on 24 July 2025
   • 2019 June, Sérgio Alcides, “Euterpe, atenção e deleite”, in Nuntius Antiquus, volume 15, number 1, Belo Horizonte, →DOI, page 133:

     E @rickyandreas exclamou: “You are the light our hope”. Este estava inspirado; comeu a vírgula e acabou dizendo mais: ela é a luz-esperança que tanto importa para uma coletividade (que ele evoca usando o pronome our, e pela qual – como os vates antigos – ele fala).

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

6. (transitive, vulgar) to fuck; to screw (to penetrate sexually)

   Synonyms: foder, faturar, papar, traçar

   Depois do jantar, na mesma noite eu comi ela. ― After dinner, that same night I fucked her.

   1. (reflexive, vulgar, by extension) to fuck (of two or more people)

      Estão felizes assim porque se comeram ― They’re that cheerful because they fucked

   2. (transitive, vulgar, by extension) to have any sexual or otherwise libidinous relationship with someone

For quotations using this term, see Citations:comer.

• Kabuverdianu: kume
• Macanese: comê
• Papiamentu: kome
• → Malay: kumi

comer m (plural comeres)

1. (informal, sometimes proscribed) food; meal

   Synonyms: comida, refeição

   O comer está na mesa! ― Food is on the table!

• “comer”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “comer”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “comer” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “comer”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “comer”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “comer”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Inherited from Old Spanish comer, from Vulgar Latin *comēre, restructuring of Latin comedere.

• IPA^(key): /koˈmeɾ/ [koˈmeɾ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: co‧mer

comer (first-person singular present como, first-person singular preterite comí, past participle comido)

1. to eat

   ¿Cómo como? ¿Cómo cómo como? ¡Como como como! (classroom example of written accent)

   How do I eat? What do you mean, how do I eat? I eat like I eat!

2. (Spain) to have lunch
3. (colloquial) to eat away, corrode
4. (transitive, chess, board games) to capture a piece
5. (double entendre, Mexico) to have sexual intercourse (because of similarity to coger)

• → Sardinian: comere

comer m (plural comeres)

1. eating, food

   Synonyms: alimento, comida

   quitárselo uno de su comer

   to deprive oneself of something for the benefit of others

   el comer fuera es muy común

   eating out is very common

   ...necesario para el alma como el comer para el cuerpo

   ...necessary for the soul like food for the body

• “comer”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “comer”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010