imbibe
See also: imbibé
English
Etymology
From Middle English imbiben, from Latin imbibō, from im- + bibō (“to drink”) (whence also beverage), from Proto-Italic *pibō, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₃-, whence also potable, potion.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɪmˈbaɪb/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -aɪb
Verb
imbibe (third-person singular simple present imbibes, present participle imbibing, simple past and past participle imbibed)
- To drink (used frequently of alcoholic beverages).
- 1899, John A. Logan, Jr., In Joyful Russia, 2nd edition, New York: D. Appleton and Company, page 185:
- Perhaps in the case of the vodka-drinking peasant it is this weekly parboil which saves his life and postpones the dreadful day when the constant imbibing of unlimited quantities of the deadly liquor must be paid for.
- 2016, Justin O. Schmidt, The Sting of the Wild, Johns Hopkins University Press,, →ISBN, page 55:
- Without its sting, the common yellowjacket would be unable to steal ham from our sandwich or imbibe the sweet juice from our peach.
-
- (figuratively) To take in; absorb.
- to imbibe knowledge
- 1838, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Duty and Inclination, volume III, London: Henry Colburn, page 144:
- To eradicate that error, already but too deeply imbibed, to subdue and triumph over human infirmity, was indeed difficult, but to Rosilia a derogation from virtue was still more so.
- 2006, Marsha Keith Schuchard, Why Mrs Blake Cried, Pimlico 2007, p. 219:
- Like the late Dr Falk (d. 1782), Grabianka was a native of Podolia, where Sabbatian influences were strong among local Jews, and he imbibed many of their notions.
- 2021 February 2, Katharine Murphy, The Guardian:
- If you’ve been imbibing Craig’s Kelly’s Covid monologues over the summer and wondering why Scott Morrison lets one of his own MPs regularly contradict the official public health advice without rebuke, let me try to answer your question.
- (obsolete, transitive) To steep; to cause to absorb liquid.
Hypernyms
- ingest
Derived terms
- imbiber
- imbibement
- imbibition
Related terms
English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *peh₃- (0 c, 16 e)
Translations
drink
|
take in
|
French
Pronunciation
- Homophones: imbibent, imbibes
Verb
imbibe
- inflection of imbiber:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Latin
Verb
imbibe
- second-person singular present active imperative of imbibō
Middle English
Verb
imbibe
- Alternative form of imbiben