digestion

[dih-jes-chuh n, dahy-] /dɪˈdʒɛs tʃən, daɪ-/
noun
1.
the process in the alimentary canal by which food is broken up physically, as by the action of the teeth, and chemically, as by the action of enzymes, and converted into a substance suitable for absorption and assimilation into the body.
2.
the function or power of digesting food:
My digestion is bad.
3.
the act of digesting or the state of being digested.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English digestioun < Anglo-French, Middle French < Latin dīgestiōn- (stem of dīgestiō), equivalent to dīgest(us) (see digest) + -iōn- -ion
Related forms
digestional, adjective
nondigestion, noun
redigestion, noun
self-digestion, noun
Examples from the web for digestion
  • As the stomach releases food into the intestines, the gallbladder begins to squeeze out bile to help with fat digestion.
  • It is always craving new and more tasty morsels-which may not be the best, or truest, things for anyone's digestion.
  • Human guts are full of bugs that help digestion and also stop their disease-causing counterparts from invading.
  • Those are parts some nudibranchs have for breathing and digestion.
  • digestion occurs and the bladderwort receives some nutrition.
  • We either rotated other crops with legumes or used the nitrogen left over from animal digestion as manure.
  • They can sleep for up to eighteen hours a day because of the slow metabolic rate that aids digestion.
  • The clearest example-one previously known about by researchers-is the gene that allows for the digestion of milk into adulthood.
  • Soluble fiber attracts water and turns to gel during digestion.
  • The author's style is a little rich for easy digestion and the translation is over-literal.
British Dictionary definitions for digestion

digestion

/dɪˈdʒɛstʃən; daɪ-/
noun
1.
the act or process in living organisms of breaking down ingested food material into easily absorbed and assimilated substances by the action of enzymes and other agents related adjective peptic
2.
mental assimilation, esp of ideas
3.
(bacteriol) the decomposition of sewage by the action of bacteria
4.
(chem) the treatment of material with heat, solvents, chemicals, etc, to cause softening or decomposition
Derived Forms
digestional, adjective
Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from Latin digestiō a dissolving, digestion
Word Origin and History for digestion
n.

late 14c., from Old French digestion (13c.), from Latin digestionem (nominative digestio), noun of action from past participle stem of digerere (see digest (n.)).

digestion in Medicine

digestion di·ges·tion (dī-jěs'chən, dĭ-)
n.
The process by which food is converted into substances that can be absorbed and assimilated by the body, especially that accomplished in the alimentary canal by the mechanical and enzymatic breakdown of foods into simpler chemical compounds.

digestion in Science
digestion
  (dī-jěs'chən)   

  1. The process by which food is broken down into simple chemical compounds that can be absorbed and used as nutrients or eliminated by the body. In most animals, nutrients are obtained from food by the action of digestive enzymes. In humans and other higher vertebrates, digestion takes place mainly in the small intestine. In protists and some invertebrates, digestion occurs by phagocytosis.

  2. The decomposition of organic material, such as sewage, by bacteria.


digestion in Culture

digestion definition


The breaking down of food, which is made up of complex organic molecules, into smaller molecules that the body can absorb and use for maintenance and growth.