eatable

& s. [Eng. eat; -able.] A. As adj .: That may or can be eaten; fit to be eaten; proper for food, edible. 'What fish can any shore or British sea-town show That's eatable to us, that it doth not bestow Abundantly thereon?"- Drayton : Polyolbion , s. 25. B. As subst.: Anything that may or can be eaten; anything fit or proper for food. "If you all sorts of persons would engage, Suit well your eatables to every age. King: Art of Cookery , 214, 215. Eatable birds' nests: 1. Lit .: The nests of the esculent swallow, Collo calia esculent a . 2. Gelidium, a genus of Algals.