digest
[verb dih-jest, dahy-; noun dahy-jest]
- to convert (food) in the alimentary canal into absorbable form for assimilation into the system.
- to promote the digestion of (food).
- to obtain information, ideas, or principles from; assimilate mentally: to digest a pamphlet on nuclear waste.
- to arrange methodically in the mind; think over: to digest a plan.
- to bear with patience; endure.
- to arrange in convenient or methodical order; reduce to a system; classify.
- to condense, abridge, or summarize.
- Chemistry. to soften or disintegrate (a substance) by means of moisture, heat, chemical action, or the like.
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- to digest food.
- to undergo digestion, as food.
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- a collection or compendium, usually of literary, historical, legal, or scientific matter, especially when classified or condensed.
- Law.
- a systematic abstract of some body of law.
- the Digest,a collection in fifty books of excerpts, especially from the writings of the Classical Roman jurists, compiled by order of Justinian in the 6th century a.d.; the Pandects.
- Biochemistry. the product of the action of an enzyme on food or other organic material.
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Origin of digest
1350–1400; (v.) Middle English digesten < Latin dīgestus separated, dissolved (past participle of dīgerere), equivalent to dī- di-2 + ges- carry, bear (base of gerere) + -tus past participle suffix; (noun) Middle English: collection of laws < Late Latin dīgesta (plural), Latin: collection of writings, neuter plural of dīgestus, as above
Synonyms
See more synonyms for digest on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for digest
Contemporary Examples
Warfighting, its authors freely admitted, was essentially On War in digest form.
It is this kind of abortion narrative that is easiest for people to digest, and there are many cases like this.
Before you invoke images of a nation enjoying more indolence than industry, there is an uncomfortable statistic to digest.
Obama’s Extravagant Summer Break? More Like, America’s Vacation-Deficit DisorderClive Irving
August 10, 2014
Food intolerance occurs when your body is unable to digest a certain component of a food, such as the protein called gluten.
Foods, wines are categorized as “digest” or “pas digest,” as in easy or difficult to digest.
Historical Examples
As to their clients, that is another thing; God knows they have much to digest!
The Letters of Robert BurnsRobert Burns
Well, great masters, if you swallow me, you may not digest me.
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863Adam Gurowski
O, worshippers of heavy incapacity, take and digest it if you can.
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863Adam Gurowski
It cannot digest itself; it cannot of its own accord turn into bone and muscle and blood.
The Child and the CurriculumJohn Dewey
A pint a day was his daily ration, the only nourishment he could digest.
L'AssommoirEmile Zola
digest
- to subject (food) to a process of digestion
- (tr) to assimilate mentally
- chem to soften or disintegrate or be softened or disintegrated by the action of heat, moisture, or chemicals; decompose
- (tr) to arrange in a methodical or systematic order; classify
- (tr) to reduce to a summary
- (tr) archaic to tolerate
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- a comprehensive and systematic compilation of information or material, often condensed
- a magazine, periodical, etc, that summarizes news of current events
- a compilation of rules of law based on decided cases
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Word Origin
C14: from Late Latin dīgesta writings grouped under various heads, from Latin dīgerere to divide, from di- apart + gerere to bear
Digest
- Roman law an arrangement of excerpts from the writings and opinions of eminent lawyers, contained in 50 books compiled by order of Justinian in the sixth century ad
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for digest
v.
"assimilate food in bowels," late 14c., from Latin digestus (see digest (n.)). Related: Digested; digesting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
digest
(dī-jĕst′, dĭ-)- To convert food into simpler chemical compounds that can be absorbed and assimilated by the body, as by chemical and muscular action in the alimentary canal.
- To soften or disintegrate by means of chemical action, heat, or moisture.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.