disgorge

verb

dis·​gorge (ˌ)dis-ˈgȯrj How to pronounce disgorge (audio)
disgorged; disgorging; disgorges

transitive verb

1
: to discharge by the throat and mouth : vomit
Like llamas, which disgorge stomach juices to show pique or displeasure, many animals spew fluids from their mouths, and for a variety of reasons.Noel Vietmeyer
2
: to discharge or let go of rapidly or forcefully
The train disgorged its passengers.
Low-flying planes disgorged wave after wave of para-troopers.Michael Dobbs
Customers arrive in human waves, sometimes disgorged fifty at a time from their tour buses …Barbara Ehrenreich
3
: to give up or reveal (something) on request or under pressure
The Times was threatened with its $5,000-a-day fine if it failed to obey a court order in New Jersey to disgorge the name of one of its news sources …The New York Sun
… the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 5 ordered a … salesman to disgorge about $468,000 he had earned by defrauding Iowa banks that were his customers.The National Law Journal
4
: to remove (sediment) from (a bottle of sparkling wine) after secondary fermentation in the bottle is complete
The bottles are gently turned daily for about six weeks until they are almost upside down in the rack. Then the sediment, concentrated in the neck of the bottle, is disgorged.Leslie Martin

intransitive verb

: to discharge contents
where the river disgorges into the sea

Examples of disgorge in a Sentence

We watched the airplane disgorging its passengers at the gate. The damaged ship disgorged thousands of gallons of oil into the bay. The river disgorges into the ocean just south of the city.
Recent Examples on the Web Buses and taxis heave to a stop at busy intersections, disgorging crowds of commuters. Ayen Deng Bior, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Mar. 2024 Tour buses regularly choke Wale Street to disgorge passengers for quick selfies or to sample koeksisters, plump pastries steeped in cardamom and dusted with coconut. Sarah Khan, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Feb. 2024 This wine spends 44 months on lees and was just disgorged a few months back, giving some lovely brioche toastiness. Jeanne O'Brien Coffey, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024 Along the way, crusty conservative publications disgorged a slew of anti-Swiftie polemics. Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 1 Feb. 2024 The town’s population nearly triples in the summer, catering to visitors passing through by car, hiking in from the Colorado Trail and Molas Pass, or disgorged by the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, from which some tourists claim Bigfoot was spotted in October. Jonathan Weisman Benjamin Rasmussen, New York Times, 30 Nov. 2023 How about a new West Hollywood one-stop pleasure campus Nov. 2, 2023 2:23 p.m., Vine Street near Yucca Street The bus rolls up in front of the Capitol Records Building and disgorges its cadre of selfie seekers. Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2023 Vehicles with cracked windshields and bullet holes line the roadside, their contents disgorged along the berms. Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023 My aim was ostensibly to find a restaurant at the mouth of the Fiumicino Canal, where the waters of the Tiber are disgorged into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Rachel Cusk, Harper's Magazine, 9 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'disgorge.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle French desgorger, from des- dis- + gorge gorge

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of disgorge was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near disgorge

Cite this Entry

“Disgorge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disgorge. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

disgorge

verb
dis·​gorge (ˈ)dis-ˈgȯ(ə)rj How to pronounce disgorge (audio)
1
2
: to cause to come out violently or forcefully
the volcano disgorged lava

Legal Definition

disgorge

transitive verb
dis·​gorge dis-ˈgȯrj How to pronounce disgorge (audio)
disgorged; disgorging
: to give up (as illegally gained profits) on request, under pressure, or by court order especially to prevent unjust enrichment
ordered a…salesman to disgorge about $468,000 he had earned by defrauding Iowa banksNational Law Journal
disgorgement noun
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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