: feeding on or destroying flesh or soft tissue
A Kentucky man was diagnosed with a flesh-eating infection after he went camping along the Green River.Dayton (Ohio) Daily News
… infestation by blowflies whose eggs hatch into flesh-eating maggots.Kerry Capell
But according to Eugenie Clark, a University of Maryland zoologist, "the white shark, the largest flesh-eating fish, is anything but a mindless, constant eating machine."Discover
Natural history buffs will find … a 145-million-year-old foot from the Allosaur, one of the largest flesh-eating dinosaurs …Carolyn Hughes Crowley
see also flesh-eating bacterium, flesh-eating disease

Examples of flesh-eating in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Meanwhile in Florida, a third death in less than a month was attributed to the flesh-eating bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, which thrives in warmer, brackish seawater or by eating raw or undercooked shellfish. Janet Loehrke, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026 The flesh-eating worm is now present on both sides of the border. Abraham Tellez, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026 Louisiana health officials are urging Gulf Coast beachgoers to take precautions amid a surge in infections caused by a flesh-eating bacteria found in coastal waters. Maureen O'Hare, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2026 The catchy musical about that flesh-eating plant is never too far in the rearview either. ABC News, 14 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for flesh-eating

Word History

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of flesh-eating was in 1588

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Cite this Entry

“Flesh-eating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flesh-eating. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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