Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

eat one's wheaties

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.16 in modern English

Syllables: eat one's wheaties
IPA

21

Scrabble Score

15

Letters

1

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To prepare or fortify oneself for an activity requiring exertion.

Canadian usage; American usage

Example Sentences

"But he just couldn't get the ball through the goal posts (poor Harry . . . he didn't eat his Wheaties, or else his shoe was on backwards)."
"Jo-Ann Wonsik answered a Herald want ad for a career requiring day after day of heavy lifting. . . . "And you've got to eat your Wheaties on this job," she said."
"Of all the movie promotions in all the towns in all the world, Keanu Reeves had to walk into this one: a California Institute of Technology forum at which he was asked, “How could an alien being grow so fast without violating standard mass- and energy-conservation laws?” . . . He paused. “I ate my Wheaties.”"

Etymology

An allusion to the breakfast cereal Wheaties, long advertised as the "Breakfast of Champions", and its long-standing association with sports celebrities.

Usage

Canadian usage
American usage

Inflected Forms

eats one's Wheaties (present, singular) eating one's Wheaties (participle, present) ate one's Wheaties (past) eaten one's Wheaties (participle, past)

Phrases

gird up one's loins have one's Weetabix destroy the evidence

Frequently Paired Words

gird up one's loins have one's Weetabix destroy the evidence

Questions

What does eat one's wheaties mean?: To prepare or fortify oneself for an activity requiring exertion.
Where does eat one's wheaties come from?: An allusion to the breakfast cereal Wheaties, long advertised as the "Breakfast of Champions", and its long-standing association with sports celebrities.

How to pronounce eat one's wheaties

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