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to egest

to egest

9.9
To push out waste from the body after digestion
  • verb
  • /ɪˈdʒɛst/
  • Specialized
translation icon : expeler
  • After eating, the snake egests the undigested parts of its prey.

Examples

  • The doctor explained how birds egest seeds they cannot digest.

  • But then it quickly follows that the heap is totally the same: the stones have not ingested, digested, or egested any food—they require no nourishment at all.

    Academic text (2016)
  • Some animals egest waste that is not suitable for their diet.

Synonyms

to pass
vsto egest
  • NSFW
168 4.4

To let waste or a small object leave the body

refers specifically to waste leaving the digestive tract rather than any object
to eliminate
vsto egest
  • Specialized
81 4.3

Remove waste or harmful substances from the body

is specifically about expelling waste from the digestive tract
to excrete
vsto egest
  • NSFW
6 7.0

To remove waste from the body through urine, sweat or breath

focuses instead on waste expelled from the digestive tract

Antonyms

68 3.6

To eat or drink something so it goes into your body

Surface Forms

egest infinitive
egested past
egested past participle
egesting present participle
egests third person singular

Morphology

egest = egestion (semi-transparent) = e + gest

The verb is a back-formation from the noun 'egestion' (regularly formed by removing '-ion'), but the base elements ('e-' and 'gest') are not productive standalone words for most learners.

Etymology

Egest comes from the parts e- meaning 'out' and gest meaning 'carry', the same root you see in ingest and digest. So to egest is to 'carry out' and push waste 'out' of the body after digestion.