regurgitate

verb

re·​gur·​gi·​tate (ˌ)rē-ˈgər-jə-ˌtāt How to pronounce regurgitate (audio)
regurgitated; regurgitating

intransitive verb

: to become thrown or poured back

transitive verb

: to throw or pour back or out from or as if from a cavity
regurgitate food
memorized facts to regurgitate on the exam

Did you know?

Something regurgitated has typically been taken in, at least partially digested, and then spit back out—either literally or figuratively. The word often appears in biological contexts (e.g., in describing how some birds feed their chicks by regurgitating incompletely digested food) or in references to ideas or information that has been acquired and restated. A student, for example, might be expected to learn information from a textbook or a teacher and then regurgitate it for a test. Regurgitate, which entered the English vocabulary in the latter half of the 16th century, is of Latin origin and traces back to the Latin word for "whirlpool," which is gurges.

Examples of regurgitate in a Sentence

The bird regurgitates to feed its young. The bird regurgitates food to feed its young. She memorized the historical dates only to regurgitate them on the exam. The speaker was just regurgitating facts and figures.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
These tools are remarkably skilled at quickly, comprehensively, and efficiently consuming vast amounts of data and regurgitating it within a different context. Maria Williams, USA Today, 13 May 2025 This is true even for students who do not regurgitate a full ChatGPT essay. Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025 Drawing from cognitive science, Chollet described such intelligence as the ability to quickly acquire skills and solve unfamiliar problems from first principles, rather than just memorizing enormous amounts of training data and regurgitating information. Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 4 Apr. 2025 Unlike mutual funds, which regurgitate capital gain dividends onto helpless shareholders, stock ETFs rarely distribute taxable gains. William Baldwin, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for regurgitate

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin regurgitatus, past participle of regurgitare, from Latin re- + Late Latin gurgitare to engulf, from Latin gurgit-, gurges whirlpool — more at voracious

First Known Use

1578, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of regurgitate was in 1578

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Cite this Entry

“Regurgitate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regurgitate. Accessed 24 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

regurgitate

verb
re·​gur·​gi·​tate (ˈ)rē-ˈgər-jə-ˌtāt How to pronounce regurgitate (audio)
regurgitated; regurgitating
: to throw or be thrown back or out again
regurgitate undigested food
regurgitation
(ˌ)rē-ˌgər-jə-ˈtā-shən
noun

Medical Definition

regurgitate

verb
re·​gur·​gi·​tate (ˈ)rē-ˈgər-jə-ˌtāt How to pronounce regurgitate (audio)
regurgitated; regurgitating

intransitive verb

: to become thrown or poured back

transitive verb

: to throw or pour back or out from or as if from a cavity
regurgitate swallowed food into the mouth

More from Merriam-Webster on regurgitate

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