eat one's words字面意思是“把文字吃下去”，很多人自然就会将其理解成“食言”，当然其也有这个意思，需要注意的是这里的“word”必须是复数形式。但其还有“收回说过的话，承认前言有失，说错了，食言”的意思。

【例句】
Tom said he'd help us move, but hebroke his word and failed to show.
汤姆说他会帮我们搬家，但他食言了，他根本没露面。

What he said proved wrong, so he had toeat his words.
事实证明他说错了，所以他只好收回前言。