^ 1 | Details — A single action in detail. About the action rulebooks

Standard actions concerning the actor's possessions
Taking inventory , Taking , Removing it from , Dropping , Putting it on , Inserting it into , Eating

Eating something (past tense eaten)

Eating is the only one of the built-in actions which can, in effect, destroy something: the carry out rule removes what's being eaten from play, and nothing in the Standard Rules can then get at it again.
Note that, uncontroversially, one can only eat things with the 'edible' either/or property. Until 2011, the action also required that the foodstuff had to be carried by the eater, which meant that a player standing next to a bush with berries who typed EAT BERRIES would force a '(first taking the berries)' action. This is no longer true. Taking is now only forced if the foodstuff is portable.

Typed commands leading to this action

"eat [something preferably held]"

Rules controlling this action

check an actor eating can't eat unless edible rule name unlist 1

A "[regarding the noun][They're] plainly inedible." name set

check an actor eating can't eat clothing without removing it first rule name unlist 1

A "(first taking [the noun] off)[command clarification break]" name set

check an actor eating can't eat other people's food rule name unlist 1

A "[The owner] [might not appreciate] that." name set

check an actor eating can't eat portable food without carrying it rule name unlist

carry out an actor eating standard eating rule name unlist

report an actor eating standard report eating rule name unlist 2

A "[We] [eat] [the noun]. Not bad." name set
B "[The actor] [eat] [the noun]." name set

Click on the speech-bubble icons to see the responses, or here to see all of them: 5