Dictionary

imbibe en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɪmˈbaɪb/
• (Southern-England) audio

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.

Meanings

1. To drink (used frequently of alcoholic beverages).
   • 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. 1899, John A. Logan, Jr., In Joyful Russia, 2nd edition, New York: D. Appleton and Company, page 185:
   • Without its sting, the common yellowjacket would be unable to steal ham from our sandwich or imbibe the sweet juice from our peach. 2016, Justin O. Schmidt, The Sting of the Wild, Johns Hopkins University Press,, →ISBN, page 55:
2. (figuratively) To take in; absorb.
   • 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. 2006, Marsha Keith Schuchard, Why Mrs Blake Cried, Pimlico, published 2007, page 219:
   • 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. 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XI, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 144:
   • “Every minute,” continued M. Krempe with warmth, “every instant that you have wasted on those books is utterly and entirely lost. You have burdened your memory with exploded systems, and useless names. Good God! in what desert land have you lived, where no one was kind enough to inform you that these fancies, which you have so greedily imbibed, are a thousand years old, and as musty as they are ancient? I little expected in this enlightened and scientific age to find a disciple of Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus. My dear Sir, you must begin your studies entirely anew.” 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, pages 69–70:
   • 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. 2021 February 2, Katharine Murphy, The Guardian:
   • to imbibe knowledge
3. (obsolete, transitive) To steep; to cause to absorb liquid.

Forms

Deriveds

preimbibe · unimbibed · imbibition · imbibement · imbibable · imbiber · reimbibe

Hypernyms

ingest

Translations (48)

ru поглоща́ть (take in) · de trinken (drink) · fi imeä itseensä (take in) · pt embeber (take in) · sv anamma (take in) · fi juoda (drink) · fr boire (drink) · cmn 飲 /饮 (drink) · sv supa (drink) · enm imbiben (take in) · sa पिबति (drink) · bg поглъ́щам (take in) · es beber (drink) · ja 吸収する (take in) · cs nasát (take in) · cmn 喝 (drink) · nl opnemen (take in) · nl drinken (drink) · nl tot zich nemen (take in) · nl nuttigen (drink) · fi omaksua (take in) · hy ըմպել (drink) · fr absorber (take in) · nl tot zich nemen (drink) · it assorbire (drink) · ru пить (drink) · es embeber (take in) · ota چكمك (take in) · bg пое́мам (take in) · pl pić (drink) · cs nasávat (drink) · pt beber (drink) · ko 흡수하다 (take in) · sv dricka (drink) · de vereinnahmen (take in) · cmn 吸收 (take in) · ru перенима́ть (take in) · cs vstřebat (take in) · bg изпи́вам (drink) · cmn 吸取 (take in) · pl chłonąć (take in) · ko 마시다 (drink) · ru принима́ть (drink) · bg пи́я (drink) · ro îmbiba (take in) · cmn 吸入 (take in) · gd deoghail (drink) · ro bea (drink)