Word of the Day

: October 7, 2006

ingurgitate

verb in-GUR-juh-tayt

What It Means

: to swallow greedily or in large quantities : guzzle

ingurgitate in Context

The kids were so hungry after the ball game that they ingurgitated their fries before I even finished squeezing the ketchup on mine.

Did You Know?

Most people are familiar with "regurgitate" as a fancy synonym for "throw up," but far fewer know of its rarer antonym "ingurgitate." It's a word as likely to turn up in a spelling bee as in a conversation, but it does see occasional use, both literal (as in "ingurgitating red wine") and figurative (as in "ingurgitating artwork"). "Regurgitate" and "ingurgitate" (as well as "gurgitate," an even rarer synonym of "ingurgitate," and "gorge," meaning "to eat greedily") can be ultimately traced back to the Latin word for "whirlpool," which is "gurges."