What is the meaning of the phrasal verb “eat away”?

The correct answer is Option (2) → Corrode

A phrasal verb is a verb joined with a small word such as up, out or together. The two words together have a new meaning.

Eat away means to slowly destroy or wear something away, bit by bit. Its closest meaning is corrode. Example: Rust has eaten away the bottom of the old gate.

Word	Meaning	Example
(1) Swallow	to make food or drink go down the throat	The child could not swallow the big tablet.
(2) Corrode (answer)	to slowly damage metal, for example by water, air or acid (same as eat away)	Salty sea air corrodes iron quickly.
(3) Polish	to rub something to make it shine	Papa polishes his shoes every Sunday.
(4) Scatter	to throw or spread things over a wide area	Dadi scattered grain for the pigeons.