imbibing

im·bibe

I0043800 (ĭm-bīb′)v. im·bibed, im·bib·ing, im·bibes v.tr.1. To drink.2. To absorb or take in as if by drinking: "The whole body ... imbibes delight through every pore" (Henry David Thoreau).3. To receive and absorb into the mind: "Gladstone had ... imbibed a strong prejudice against Americans" (Philip Magnus).4. Obsolete To permeate; saturate.v.intr. To drink alcoholic beverages.

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[Middle English embiben, to soak up, saturate, from Latin imbibere, to drink in, imbibe : in-, in; see in-² + bibere, to drink; see pō(i)- in Indo-European roots.]

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im·bib′er n.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

imbibing - the act of consuming liquids drinking, imbibitionconsumption, ingestion, intake, uptake - the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating)guzzling, swilling, gulping - the drinking of large mouthfuls rapidlypotation - the act of drinking (especially an alcoholic drink)