Di-gĕst’1, v. t.
v. t. [imp. & p. p. DIGESTED; p. pr. & vb. n. DIGESTING.] [Lat. digerere, digestum, to separate, distribute, arrange, dissolve, from di, for dis, and gerere, to bear, carry, wear; Fr. digérer, Pr. & Sp. digerir, It. digerire.]
Sense 1. To distribute or arrange methodically; to work over and classify; to reduce to portions for ready use or application; to prepare; as, to digest the laws, &c.
Sense 2. To separate into nutritive and innutritious elements; to prepare in the stomach for conversion into blood; to turn into chyme; — said of the food.
Sense 3. To think over; to take and enjoy; to brook.
Sense 4. To bear with patience or submission.
Let it serve for table-talk: Then, howsoe’er thou speak’st, ’mong other things I shall digest it. Shak.
I never can digest the loss of most of Origen’s works. Coleridge.
Sense 5. (Chem.) To soften by heat and moisture; to expose to a gentle heat in a boiler or matrass, as a preparation for chemical operations.
Sense 6. (Med.) To dispose to suppurate, as an ulcer or wound; to draw.
Sense 7. To ripen; to mature. [Rare.] “Well digested fruits.” Bp. Taylor.
Sense 8. To quiet or abate, as anger or grief.