ingest
C2Formal, Technical, Medical, Scientific
Definition
Meaning
To take food, drink, or another substance into the body, typically through the mouth.
To take in or absorb information, data, or other intangible material, often used in computing and scientific contexts.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Strongly implies a deliberate or mechanical process of taking something in, often for a specific purpose. It is less common and more formal than 'eat', 'drink', or 'consume'. In computing, it refers to the process of importing and processing data.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant spelling or usage difference. Equally formal in both varieties.
Connotations
Primarily technical/medical in both. Slightly more common in British English in formal medical contexts, but the difference is minimal.
Frequency
Low-frequency, specialist term in both varieties.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[Subject: person/animal/machine] + ingest + [Object: substance/data]Passive: '[Object] is/was ingested'Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “[No common idioms]”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Rare, except in data analytics ('The platform can ingest vast amounts of real-time data').
Academic
Common in biology, medicine, toxicology, and environmental science ('The larvae ingest microplastics from the water').
Everyday
Very rare. Would sound overly technical or humorous ('I think I've ingested something bad' instead of 'I think I ate something bad').
Technical
Primary register. Used in medicine, biology, chemistry, and computing/data science.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The patient must not ingest any solid food for six hours before the procedure.
- The database is designed to ingest information from multiple sources.
American English
- The warning label states the chemical is harmful if ingested.
- Our software can ingest the raw footage and prepare it for editing.
adverb
British English
- [No standard adverb form. 'by ingestion' is used] The poison acts by ingestion.
American English
- [No standard adverb form. 'by ingestion' is used] The medication is taken by ingestion.
adjective
British English
- [Rare. 'ingestible' is the related adjective] The packaging clearly marks the product as non-ingestible.
American English
- [Rare. 'ingestible' is the related adjective] They developed an ingestible sensor to monitor gut health.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- [Too advanced for A2. Use 'eat' or 'drink' instead.]
- Do not ingest the cleaning liquid – it is poisonous.
- The machine ingests the paper and scans it.
- The study examined what happens when birds ingest small pieces of plastic.
- The new server can ingest terabytes of data every day.
- Accidentally ingesting the allergen caused a severe systemic reaction.
- The data pipeline is built to ingest, process, and analyse streaming information from IoT devices.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of IN-GESTure: making the gesture of putting something IN your mouth.
Conceptual Metaphor
THE BODY/MIND IS A CONTAINER (for physical substances); A COMPUTER IS A DIGESTIVE SYSTEM (for data).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid direct translation from Russian 'ингредировать' (to ingredient) – it's a false friend.
- Do not confuse with 'инвестировать' (to invest).
- Closer to 'поглощать', 'потреблять' (consume) or 'проглатывать' (swallow).
Common Mistakes
- Using 'ingest' casually for 'eat' (e.g., 'Let's ingest some pizza').
- Misspelling as 'inguest' or 'ingest'.
- Confusing with 'digest' (which happens after ingestion).
Practice
Quiz
In which context is the verb 'ingest' MOST appropriately used?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No. While it can mean to take food in, it is much broader (includes drink, chemicals, data) and is formal/technical. It focuses on the mechanical act of taking in, not the experience of eating.
Yes, this is a very common modern usage in IT and data science. It means to take in and initially process data from an external source.
The main noun is 'ingestion' (e.g., the ingestion of food). 'Ingest' itself is not used as a noun.
'Ingest' is the first step: taking something into the body/system. 'Digest' is the subsequent process of breaking it down, absorbing it, or understanding it (for information).