regurgitate

verb

re·​gur·​gi·​tate (ˌ)rē-ˈgər-jə-ˌtāt 

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

Or for Alexander Dane, the Shakespearean actor who wants everyone to know there's much more to his resumé than regurgitating catchphrases while wearing alien prosthetics. —Richard Edwards, Space.com, 31 Dec. 2024

Far more likely is that a language model will simply regurgitate an already dominant point of view. —Joel Khalili, WIRED, 18 Dec. 2024

Sharing Could be Crucial to Survival In a 1984 study in Nature, biologist Gerald S. Wilkinson observed how wild vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) regurgitated blood for other bats that had failed to feed that night. —Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 13 Dec. 2024

Just regurgitating stats, minimal real analysis or insight. —Theo Gremminger, The Athletic, 31 July 2024

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

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Kids Definition

regurgitate

verb

re·​gur·​gi·​tate (ˈ)rē-ˈgər-jə-ˌtāt 

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 

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