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to regurgitate information

to regurgitate information

1 7.7
To repeat facts or ideas without understanding them
  • phrasal verb
  • /rɪˈɡɜrʤɪˌteɪt ɪnˈfɔrˌmeɪʃən/
translation icon : repetir información
  • During the exam, I realized I had only learned to regurgitate information instead of truly understanding the subject.

What we do is we feed them information, they process information, they go to an exam, they regurgitate information.

Examples

  • Students who are asked to memorize facts and are expected to regurgitate information as proof of knowledge and understanding question the meaning and relevancy of what they are doing.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Will I just become someone who regurgitates information once I am talking about something I don't know about?

    Blog text (18)

  • The ones who can't think for themselves and analyze a situation but will just regurgitate information from Wikipedia.

    Blog text (6)

  • Teachers often warn against students who simply regurgitate information without understanding the concepts behind it.

  • In the lecture, many students seemed to just regurgitate information they had read without engaging with the material.

Synonyms

to quote
vsto regurgitate information
710 1.6

To repeat someone else's exact words from a book, speech, or person

does not require citing a source and often lacks understanding
to rehash
vsto regurgitate information
24 6.4

To present old ideas again with only small changes

focuses on repeating without understanding rather than mere lack of change
to regurgitate
vsto regurgitate information
16 7.7

To repeat facts from memory without understanding or new ideas

is the same meaning but expressed as a phrase specifying facts or ideas
to parrot someone's opinions
vsto regurgitate information
  • Informal
7.2

Repeat someone else's opinions without understanding them or adding your own

is broader, repeating information generally rather than specifically others' views

Antonyms

to innovate
39 5.5

Bring in new ideas or ways of doing things

Surface Forms

regurgitate information infinitive
regurgitated information past
regurgitated information past participle
regurgitating information present participle
regurgitates information third person singular

Morphology

regurgitate + information

The verb 'regurgitate' already carries the sense of repeating memorized material without comprehension, and combining it with 'information' yields the straightforward meaning 'to repeat information without understanding.' The phrase is compositionally predictable from its constituents and follows a common metaphorical pattern found across languages, so learners who know both words will readily understand it.

Etymology

Regurgitate information comes from the image of an animal regurgitating food it swallowed but did not digest. So someone who regurgitates information just brings back facts they learned without understanding them, which is why the phrase means 'repeat facts without thinking'.