Refers to the act of eating, often used in compound words or set phrases like 食いしん坊 (glutton) or 食い逃げ (dine and dash).
He's a glutton and is always eating something.
Specific to fishing; refers to a fish taking the bait. Often used in phrases like 食いがいい (the fish are biting well).
He has a small appetite and gets full quickly.
Dine and dash is a crime.
The fish weren't biting today, so I didn't catch a single one.
The horse mackerel are biting well today.
当たり is the general fishing term for a fish taking the bait, while 食い describes the fish's overall biting activity or appetite, as in 食いがいい.
食べる is the ordinary verb meaning 'to eat', while 食い is its noun form, mostly seen in set phrases and compounds rather than on its own.
食い is an event/action noun, so it is naturally counted as occurrences rather than as a physical object.
food; foodstuff · prey; victim
hold back; keep at bay; stem; curb; halt
cannibalism (in animals); feeding on each other · cannibalization; mutually harmful competition; internecine struggle
glutton; gourmand; big eater
discrepancy; inconsistency; disagreement
eating with one's fingers; snitching food; secret eating · embezzlement; misappropriation; skimming off the top · flirting; playing the field; sampling
bite at; snap at; nibble · jump at; seize eagerly; get one's teeth into · hold on to; cling to; stick to · complain; bicker; find fault
eating and drinking; food and drink
bite (in fishing)
Standard kanji spelling for the noun form.
Kana spelling is common in casual writing or when the kanji is not needed.
The noun form of the verb 食う (くう, 'to eat'), which is a more casual or masculine alternative to 食べる. The fishing sense is a metaphorical extension of 'biting'.
digging in; cutting into · inroads; encroachment; eating into · deficit; loss · wedgie
worm-eaten; moth-eaten · holes eaten by insects · leaf warbler; chiffchaff; willow wren
not match well; not mesh properly · differ; clash; be inconsistent
gluttony; greed for food
dine and dash; leaving without paying
person who cares only about looks; being attracted only by appearance
missing a meal; going without food
eat into; corrode; bite into
sneaking a bite; snitching food
cling to; hang on to · persist; hound; refuse to back down · sumo technique: grab the mawashi and lower one's hips
ruining oneself through food extravagance
substantiality of a meal; fillingness
profit-taking; realizing gains
food expenses; cost of one's board
eat up and spoil; devour destructively · eat a bit of everything; nibble around · encroach upon; take over; steal (support, market)
first meal ceremony; 100-day celebration
ration out and survive on (some food); get by on (limited food) · eke out a living; scrape by
cannibalism; biting a person · man-eating; cannibalistic
eating heavily; hearty eating; binge eating; gluttony · big eater; trencherman; gormandizer
living in idleness; idle living
living in idleness; idle living