Noshed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To have eaten something, often as a small snack rather than a full meal
2. to indulge in light eating or snacking, especially in a casual setting
3. engaging in the act of consuming food in a manner that is informal and leisurely

Etymology: "Noshed" is the past tense of "nosh," and the verb has a Germanic core that is easy to miss. It comes from Yiddish "nashn," which in turn descends from Middle High German "naschen," meaning "to nibble," and from Old High German "naskōn," a word that could also mean "to nibble" but carried a sense of "parasite." Its deepest ancestor, reconstructed as Proto-West Germanic "*hnaskwōn," meant "to weaken" or "to make soft," a picture of food being tenderised by small bites. German "naschen," still used today for sneaking sweets, is a close relative. The word is thus a doublet of "nesh," an English word meaning soft or delicate, which shows the two Germanic roots splitting into a sense about gentle food and a sense about tender bodies.

Synonyms: snacked, munched