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.
to digest food.
to undergo digestion, as food.
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.
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
archaic (tr) to tolerate
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
What does inventory mean? An inventory is a complete list of all merchandise or stock of items owned by or available from a business. At a store, an inventory is the complete list of all items for sale at the store. At a manufacturer, an inventory is a complete list of all the raw materials they have, as well as finished items and items being created. An inventory is also the specific set of products to sell, as in The store’s inventory of superhero capes is running low and will probably sell out soon. An inventory can also refer to figurative belongings, such as a person’s personality traits and skills. To inventory means to add things to an inventory list, whether a literal or figurative list, as in I inventoried my options for colleges and chose the school I’ll attend next year. Example: Can you take inventory tonight so we can be ready for the rush tomorrow?
See summary.
First recorded in 1350–1400; (verb) Middle English digesten, from 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,” from Late Latin dīgesta (plural), Latin: “collection of writings,” neuter plural of dīgestus, as above
When your stomach breaks down food, it digests it. To digest is to process food so it can be absorbed into the body or information so the mind can absorb it. If you tell your mother some bad news, like say, that you failed your math test after studying so hard, she might say, "Let me take a moment to digest that information." She's not going to swallow the paper and let her stomach do the work. Instead, she's going to take a moment to sit with the news and understand it. As a noun, a digest is a magazine that breaks down information into understandable summaries.
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After taking a pause overnight, oil prices have been more volatile as investors digest the possibility of further escalation in the Middle East.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Investors are no longer finding it easy to digest the torrent of debt funding the artificial-intelligence buildout.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
"I don't know what is going on right now. It will take time to digest it."
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Of course, borrowers can’t be certain of how banks will react to the new proposal until it’s finalized and companies have time to digest it.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
“There are many ways to view the world,” Dr. Poirot tells me on one of my clearer days, when he knows I’ll digest it, and not just repeat back what he says.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
In the years since the home was completed, Cher has carried out several updates to it, turning it into what she previously described to Architectural Digest as her personal “sanctuary.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Asked to comment on the allegations, which were first reported in Golf Digest, BBC Sport received a statement from the club.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
The property, which has striking glass walls, even earned itself a mention in Architectural Digest after Piven bought it.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026
“I knew there were going to be a lot of headwinds,” he told the Australian Golf Digest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
“Burns was the first American to see the immense possibilities of the instrument in detective work,” the Literary Digest reported in 1912.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
As the market digests Big Tech’s ambitious artificial-intelligence spending plans for 2026, the relative cheapness of Microsoft’s stock underscores a new dichotomy in technology investing.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 9, 2026
The tepid outlook "indicates that earnings will likely remain stagnant or decline slightly as the company digests the Metsera deal and ramps up R&D," Briefing.com said in its note.
From Barron's ● Dec. 16, 2025
U.S. natural gas futures sink for a second straight session as the market digests a less drastic view of coming weather.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
I'm somebody who digests more news every day than is probably healthy, and I do that because of the nature of my work.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2024
It makes you think you’ve always felt like this, and there’s no place to go but down, where it slowly, ravenously digests your will, distilling it into the ebony crude of nightmares.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
They are digested quickly and can produce sharp increases in blood sugar.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026
Market reaction: Stocks were mixed in premarket trading after investors digested the CPI report with one eye, while keep the other on Warsh’s congressional testimony with the other.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Gold rose in early Asian trade as investors digested a cooler-than-expected U.S. jobs report.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
Oil company stocks are rising on Monday, after reports the Iranian negotiators suspended talks to end the conflict with the U.S. and as investors digested the lack of progress.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
As I digested what he was saying, I had a flashback to receiving his note on the ice-cream wrapper and started to feel panicky.
From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda
The reality, though, is that simply by eating and digesting protein, our bodies produce more heat than other food groups.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
There’s been a general trend of profit-taking, he said, as investors are digesting the magnitude and timing of returns on elevated artificial-intelligence spending.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who has been bullish on SpaceX stock, said the market is digesting “massive debt and equity raises from Big Tech players” in the coming years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
“Every day there’s more data, and we’re digesting it and processing it faster,” says Adam Canady, a Jane Street engineer who works on machine learning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
They just lay there for a while, dreaming and digesting, and then Melanie suddenly sat up.
From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
