What it means
An invite to start eating, usually said when the food hits the table and everyone’s pretending to be patient. It’s basically polite permission to stop chatting and get stuck in. Often aimed at kids or guests, and can carry a bit of don’t let it go cold urgency. You’ll also hear tuck into for diving into a meal proper.
Usage examples
"Nan plonked the roast down and said, tuck in. Two minutes later the gravy’s gone and Dave’s nicked the last Yorkshire pud."
"Mum slid the lasagne onto the table and said tuck in before the cheese gets cold, two minutes later we were all silent and the dish was nearly half empty already."
"At the village hall buffet the vicar shouted tuck in to the whole congregation, and within five minutes the sausage rolls had vanished and the table was a ring of empty plates."
Where it comes from
Goes back to the old English sense of tuck, pushing food in tight as if folding it into the body. By the nineteenth century the phrasal version tuck in had become standard for getting stuck into a meal, and it has survived intact at the kitchen table while the world around it changed everything else.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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