regurgitate

American  

[ri-gur-ji-tayt] / rɪˈgɜr dʒɪˌteɪt /

verb (used without object)

• regurgitates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• regurgitated,
  past participle,  past
• regurgitating
  present participle

1. to surge or rush back, as liquids, gases, undigested food, etc.

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verb (used with object)

• regurgitates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• regurgitated,
  past participle,  past
• regurgitating
  present participle

1. to cause to surge or rush back; vomit.

2. to give back or repeat, especially something not fully understood or assimilated.

   to regurgitate the teacher's lectures on the exam.

regurgitate British  

/ rɪˈɡɜːdʒɪˌteɪt /

verb

1. to vomit forth (partially digested food)

2. (of some birds and certain other animals) to bring back to the mouth (undigested or partly digested food with which to feed the young)

3. (intr) to be cast up or out, esp from the mouth

4. (intr) med (of blood) to flow backwards, in a direction opposite to the normal one, esp through a defective heart valve

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• regurgitant
  noun
• regurgitation
  noun
• unregurgitated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• regurgitating
  present
• regurgitated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• regurgitate
  simple
• regurgitates
  simple
• have regurgitated
  perfect
• has regurgitated
  perfect
• am regurgitating
  progressive
• are regurgitating
  progressive
• is regurgitating
  progressive
• have been regurgitating
  perfect progressive
• has been regurgitating
  perfect progressive

Past

• regurgitated
  simple
• had regurgitated
  perfect
• was regurgitating
  progressive
• were regurgitating
  progressive
• had been regurgitating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will regurgitate
  simple
• will have regurgitated
  perfect
• will be regurgitating
  progressive
• will have been regurgitating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of regurgitate

1645–55; < Medieval Latin regurgitātus (past participle of regurgitāre ), equivalent to re- re- + gurgit-, stem of gurges whirlpool, flood, stream + -ātus -ate ¹

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Explanation

To regurgitate is to bring already swallowed food back up through one's throat and out the mouth. Not so nice in humans, but much more understandable (if still gross) in birds — who feed their baby chicks by regurgitating. Finished cramming for your exam? Ready to do a data dump? Then you're about to regurgitate all you've learned — repeat information verbatim without any real understanding or analysis of it. Don't worry, everyone does it, from high school and college students, to grown-ups in corporate boardrooms.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

regurgitate regurgitates regurgitated regurgitating

It can also be passed directly to chicks when adults regurgitate food.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026

Several exhibitors regurgitate the ideas of other, better-known artists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026

Too much of modern life is dominated by machines that can only regurgitate what has come before, says Bienvenu.

From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026

While they hear everything, there is little they can do other than regurgitate the info online.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2025

Not made freaks: not men covered head to toe in tattoos, not women who regurgitate wallets and lightbulbs on command, not moss-haired girls or men who pound stakes into their sinus cavities.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Gibson often regurgitates messages from personal finance and investing books that he reads, or from YouTube videos he watches about finance for beginners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Tennessee law regurgitates the same language but adds at the end “for minors.”

From Slate ● Apr. 3, 2023

The 1995 Korean War Veterans Memorial is centered on figurative sculptures; the 2004 World War II Memorial regurgitates classical architectural banalities — arches, pylons and wreaths — on a scale worthy of Albert Speer.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 16, 2022

The ruminant regurgitates cud from the rumen, and the food is passed into the omasum for water removal and then into the small and large intestines for nutrient and further water absorption.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

He coughs a deep cough and regurgitates something into the bag.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Jason Aten, a tech columnist at Inc. magazine, reported that his Muse read and regurgitated his private messages even though he believed he had denied it that capability.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Smaller accounts regurgitated Owens’ claims in their own videos, with no apparent value added.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026

Watching AI-generated content, which is regurgitated again and again, fed to a zombie audience that no longer cares.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

Robinson also said the report largely regurgitated facts already in the public domain, citing the controversy of then-Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill at the funeral of Bobby Storey.

From BBC ● Nov. 24, 2025

A tsunami of regurgitated rations flooded over Grub’s blackout suit.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

Does being faithful mean regurgitating an author’s words?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025

Instead of listening to boring lectures regurgitating scientific papers they’d already read, why not present video footage?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2024

ChatGPT could not start regurgitating harmful or illegal material it happened to find newly uploaded to the net in response to a query.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2023

"I look around, I see lots of Titanic experts . . . but from my perspective, most are regurgitating things that are already out there."

From Salon ● Apr. 15, 2023

Mnemonists, the performers who amaze us by regurgitating superhuman amounts of information, have spent a lot of time building up a huge inventory of chunks in their long-term memories.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

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