Digest \Di*gest"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Digested}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Digesting}.] [L. digestus, p. p. of digerere to separate,
arrange, dissolve, digest; di- = dis- + gerere to bear,
carry, wear. See {Jest}.]
1. To distribute or arrange methodically; to work over and
classify; to reduce to portions for ready use or
application; as, to digest the laws, etc.
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Joining them together and digesting them into order.
--Blair.
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We have cause to be glad that matters are so well
digested. --Shak.
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2. (Physiol.) To separate (the food) in its passage through
the alimentary canal into the nutritive and nonnutritive
elements; to prepare, by the action of the digestive
juices, for conversion into blood; to convert into chyme.
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3. To think over and arrange methodically in the mind; to
reduce to a plan or method; to receive in the mind and
consider carefully; to get an understanding of; to
comprehend.
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Feelingly digest the words you speak in prayer.
--Sir H.
Sidney.
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How shall this bosom multiplied digest
The senate's courtesy? --Shak.
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4. To appropriate for strengthening and comfort.
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Grant that we may in such wise hear them [the
Scriptures], read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest
them. --Book of
Common Prayer.
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5. Hence: To bear comfortably or patiently; to be reconciled
to; to brook.
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I never can digest the loss of most of Origin's
works. --Coleridge.
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6. (Chem.) To soften by heat and moisture; to expose to a
gentle heat in a boiler or matrass, as a preparation for
chemical operations.
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7. (Med.) To dispose to suppurate, or generate healthy pus,
as an ulcer or wound.
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8. To ripen; to mature. [Obs.]
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Well-digested fruits. --Jer. Taylor.
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9. To quiet or abate, as anger or grief.
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