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，收回前言”的意思。

【例句】
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。

Tom said Nancy would never succeed in her business, but after seeing her business grow, he had toeat his words.
汤姆曾经说南希不可能把生意做好，但是看着她的事业风生水起，他不得不承认自己说错了。