regurgitate

verb

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re·gur·gi·tate | \ (ˌ)rē-ˈgər-jə-ˌtāt

regurgitated; regurgitating

Definition of regurgitate

intransitive verb

: to become thrown or poured back

transitive verb

: to throw or pour back or out from or as if from a cavity regurgitate food memorized facts to regurgitate on the exam

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Something regurgitated has typically been taken in, at least partially digested, and then spit back out . . . either literally or figuratively. The word often appears in biological contexts (e.g., in describing how some birds feed their chicks by regurgitating incompletely digested food), or in references to ideas or information that have been acquired and restated. A student, for example, might be expected to learn information from a textbook or a teacher and then regurgitate it for a test. Regurgitate, which entered the English vocabulary in the mid-17th century, is of Latin origin and traces back to the Latin word for "whirlpool," which is gurges.

Examples of regurgitate in a Sentence

The bird regurgitates to feed its young. The bird regurgitates food to feed its young. She memorized the historical dates only to regurgitate them on the exam. The speaker was just regurgitating facts and figures.

Recent Examples on the Web There’s a thin line between just trying to regurgitate something and maintaining an ongoing creative presence. — Jim Ryan, Forbes, 25 May 2021 In the wild, a pup licks its mother's face and lips, stimulating her to regurgitate food for it. — Kim Campbell Thornton, Star Tribune, 7 May 2021 People with rumination disorder repeatedly regurgitate their food and then re-chew, re-swallow, or spit it out. — Colleen Murphy, Health.com, 24 Feb. 2021 Trust me, a diamond ring sounds nice, but as womxn of color, we are constantly questioned about our capabilities, so a degree is a tangible piece of evidence that defies patriarchal norms that regurgitate demeaning ideals for womxn. — Fairoj Tashnia, refinery29.com, 30 Oct. 2020 Like many owls, barn owls swallow prey whole, then regurgitate tough material like fur and bone into what’s called an owl pellet. — National Geographic, 31 Oct. 2020 Any analysis the Trump White House commissions, of course, might well just regurgitate talking points from the American Petroleum Institute. — Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 28 Oct. 2020 Asset managers return their investors’ capital about as often as sharks regurgitate swimmers without a scratch. — Jason Zweig, WSJ, 23 Oct. 2020 Two construction workers in Ohio who recently spoke to the Economist are the president’s platonic ideal—voters who simply regurgitate the president’s own highly misleading statements. — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 15 Sep. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'regurgitate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.