imbibe

verb

im·​bibe im-ˈbīb 

imbibed; imbibing

transitive verb

1

a

: drink

b

: to take in or up

a sponge imbibes moisture

2

a

: to receive into the mind and retain

imbibe moral principles

b

: to assimilate or take into solution

3

archaic : soak, steep

intransitive verb

1

: drink sense 2

2

a

: to take in liquid

b

: to absorb or assimilate moisture, gas, light, or heat

imbiber noun

Synonyms

• drink
• sip
• gulp

Examples of imbibe in a Sentence

She imbibed vast quantities of coffee.

She never imbibes but isn't offended when others do.

Recent Examples on the Web

Take a short nature walk without headphones and imbibe the surroundings. 8. —Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025

Growing up in rural Tennessee, my grandfather learned that certain activities — card playing, smoking, imbibing — were sinful. —Peter Rowe, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 July 2025

That way, friends who weren’t partaking in drinks at dinner weren’t obligated to split the cost while not imbibing, and there was no awkward dance of who’s-paying-this-time, especially as some of the attendees were just meeting for the first time on the trip. —Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 8 July 2025

An insider told us that the reason why the Panthers bill was so expensive is that much of the pricey liquid was not imbibed but used to drench the crowd. —Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 2 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English enbiben to absorb, cause to absorb, from Latin imbibere to drink in, absorb, from in- + bibere to drink — more at potable

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 3

Rhymes for imbibe

• ascribe
• describe
• inscribe
• prescribe
• proscribe
• subscribe
• transcribe
• bribe
• gibe
• jibe
• tribe
• vibe

Kids Definition

imbibe

verb

im·​bibe im-ˈbīb 

imbibed; imbibing

1

: to receive into the mind and retain

imbibe knowledge

2

a

: drink entry 1 sense 1a

b

: absorb sense 1

imbiber noun