Digested

/daɪˈdʒɛstɪd/

verbB2past tense, past participle

Definition

Digested is the past form of the verb "digest." It means two main things: first, to break down food inside your body so it can be used for energy and growth; second, to carefully understand or think about information or ideas until they make sense to you.

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⚡ See It in Action

To break down food inside the body

  • The stomach digested the meal slowly.
  • After eating, the body digested the food to get energy.
  • Some foods are hard to digest.

To understand information fully after thinking

  • She digested the news before responding.
  • It took him some time to digest the complex idea.
  • The students digested the lesson after the teacher explained it.

🧲 Make It Stick

  • Think of "digested" like "understood," but for food or information after a process of breaking down or thinking deeply
  • Picture food moving through a stomach and turning into small parts your body can use, or imagine reading a book slowly until you fully understand it
  • It's the feeling when you finally get a difficult idea after thinking about it for a while, or when you feel comfortable after eating a meal
  • Sounds like "die-JEST-ed" → imagine a "jester" (funny person) helping you "break down" jokes or food to understand or use them
  • Think of a sponge soaking up water slowly, just like your body soaks nutrients or your brain soaks ideas after digestion
  • NOT like "eat" (which is just putting food in your mouth), "digest" is the process after eating that makes food useful
  • NOT like "read quickly," "digest" means taking time to fully understand information

🔄 Try Other Words

  • Processed: meaning handled or dealt with (Use when talking about information or materials being handled, less about food)
  • Absorbed: meaning taken in fully (Use when emphasizing taking in knowledge or nutrients completely)
  • Broken down: meaning separated into smaller parts (Use when focusing on the physical or detailed separation of food or ideas)

🔍 Unboxing

  • Word parts: "di-" (from Latin "dis-", meaning apart) + "gest" (from Latin "gerere," meaning to carry or bear) + "-ed" (past tense suffix)
  • Etymology: From Latin "digestus," past participle of "digere," meaning to arrange, distribute, or break apart
  • Historical development: Originally meant to arrange or separate parts, later used in biology for breaking down food in the body
  • Modern usage: Used for both physical digestion of food and mental digestion of ideas or information

💭 Reflect & Connect

How does the process of digesting food compare to digesting information in your life?
Can you think of a time when you needed to "digest" an idea slowly before understanding it fully?

Fill in the blanks with the correct word:

1.After the big meal, the food was ___ slowly by his stomach to give him energy.
2.She needed time to ___ the complicated instructions before starting the project.
3.Unlike eating quickly, digestion takes time because the body must ___ the food completely.
4.When you read difficult books, you must ___ the information carefully to understand it.
5.Some people find it hard to ___ heavy or greasy food without discomfort.
6.The teacher gave the students time to ___ the lesson so they could remember it better.
7.After hearing surprising news, he sat quietly to ___ what he had just learned.