to eat humble pie

Humble \Hum"ble\ (h[u^]m"b'l; 277), a. [Compar. {Humbler}
   (h[u^]m"bl[~e]r); superl. {Humblest} (h[u^]m"bl[e^]st).] [F.,
   fr. L. humilis on the ground, low, fr. humus the earth,
   ground. See {Homage}, and cf. {Chameleon}, {Humiliate}.]
   1. Near the ground; not high or lofty.
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            Thy humble nest built on the ground.  --Cowley.
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   2. Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming;
      modest; as, a humble cottage. Used to describe objects.
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   3. Thinking lowly of one's self; claiming little for one's
      self; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; thinking one's
      self ill-deserving or unworthy, when judged by the demands
      of God; lowly; weak; modest. Used to describe people.
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            God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the
            humble.                               --Jas. iv. 6.
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            She should be humble who would please. --Prior.
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            Without a humble imitation of the divine Author of
            our . . . religion we can never hope to be a happy
            nation.                               --Washington.
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   {Humble plant} (Bot.), a species of sensitive plant, of the
      genus {Mimosa} ({Mimosa sensitiva}).

   {To eat humble pie}, to endure mortification; to submit or
      apologize abjectly; to yield passively to insult or
      humiliation; -- a phrase derived from a pie made of the
      entrails or humbles of a deer, which was formerly served
      to servants and retainers at a hunting feast. See
      {Humbles}. --Halliwell. --Thackeray.
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Eat \Eat\ ([=e]t), v. t. [imp. {Ate} ([=a]t; 277), Obsolescent &
   Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. p. {Eaten} ([=e]t"'n), Obs. or
   Colloq. {Eat} ([e^]t); p. pr. & vb. n. {Eating}.] [OE. eten,
   AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan,
   G. essen, Icel. eta, Sw. [aum]ta, Dan. [ae]de, Goth. itan,
   Ir. & Gael. ith, W. ysu, L. edere, Gr. 'e`dein, Skr. ad.
   [root]6. Cf. {Etch}, {Fret} to rub, {Edible}.]
   1. To chew and swallow as food; to devour; -- said especially
      of food not liquid; as, to eat bread. "To eat grass as
      oxen." --Dan. iv. 25.
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            They . . . ate the sacrifices of the dead. --Ps.
                                                  cvi. 28.
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            The lean . . . did eat up the first seven fat kine.
                                                  --Gen. xli.
                                                  20.
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            The lion had not eaten the carcass.   --1 Kings
                                                  xiii. 28.
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            With stories told of many a feat,
            How fairy Mab the junkets eat.        --Milton.
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            The island princes overbold
            Have eat our substance.               --Tennyson.
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            His wretched estate is eaten up with mortgages.
                                                  --Thackeray.
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   2. To corrode, as metal, by rust; to consume the flesh, as a
      cancer; to waste or wear away; to destroy gradually; to
      cause to disappear.
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   {To eat humble pie}. See under {Humble}.

   {To eat of} (partitive use). "Eat of the bread that can not
      waste." --Keble.

   {To eat one's words}, to retract what one has said. (See the
      Citation under {Blurt}.)

   {To eat out}, to consume completely. "Eat out the heart and
      comfort of it." --Tillotson.

   {To eat the wind out of a vessel} (Naut.), to gain slowly to
      windward of her.

   Syn: To consume; devour; gnaw; corrode.
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