digestion

UK: /daɪˈdʒɛstʃ^ən/, /dɪˈdʒɛstʃ^ən/

US: /dɪˈdʒɛstʃən, daɪ-/

US: (di jes′chən, dī-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

di•ges•tion /dɪˈdʒɛstʃən, daɪ-/   n. 

1. Physiology the process of digesting foods:
   [uncountable] Digestion is hindered by running immediately after eating.
2. Physiology the function, power, or ability of digesting food:
   [countable; usually singular] My digestion got worse after surgery.

di•ges•tive /dɪˈdʒɛstɪv, daɪ-/  adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

di•ges•tion  (di jes′chən, dī-), n. 

1. Physiology 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. Physiology the function or power of digesting food:
   My digestion is bad.
3. Physiology the act of digesting or the state of being digested.

• Latin dīgestiōn- (stem of dīgestiō), equivalent. to dīgest(us) (see digest) + -iōn- -ion
• Anglo-French, Middle French
• Middle English digestioun 1350–1400

di•ges′tion•al, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

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
2. mental assimilation, esp of ideas
3. the decomposition of sewage by the action of bacteria
4. the treatment of material with heat, solvents, chemicals, etc, to cause softening or decomposition

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French, from Latin digestiō a dissolving, digestion

diˈgestional adjective