digestion
noun
- physical, chemical, and biochemical processes carried out to break down ingested nutrients into components that may be easily absorbed and directed into metabolism
- act or process of taking something in completely (like food), breaking down and processing of food
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /daɪˈd͡ʒɛst͡ʃən/ / /dɪˈd͡ʒɛst͡ʃən/
noun
Etymology: From Old French digestion. Partly displaced native Old English melting (“melting, digestion”).
- The process, in the gastrointestinal tract, by which food is converted into substances that can be used by the body.
“In the dead state all is apparently without motion. No agent within indicates design, intelligence, or foresight: there is no respiration; no digestion, circulation, or nutrition; […]”
“As for Grierson, he poured liquor into himself as if it were so much soothing syrup, demonstrating that a good digestion is the highest form of good conscience.”
- The result of this process.
- The ability to use this process.
- The processing of decay in organic matter assisted by microorganisms.
- The assimilation and understanding of ideas.
- Generation of pus; suppuration.
- Dissolution of a sample into a solution by means of adding acid and heat.