ingurgitate (2009-09-20)

Part of Speech: verb

Pronunciation: [in-'gêr-jê-teyt]

Definition: To gulp, gobble, eat greedily in excessive amounts.

Usage: "Gulp" is such a short word that kids often don't hear it and they think "gobble" is something only turkeys do. Next time your children eat too fast, say, "Please don't ingurgitate your food so, children." Even if they don't understand this word, it will probably take away their appetite. You might even want to share this bit of parental advice with them: "Ingurgitation leads to regurgitation." That should send everyone flying from the table—to the dictionary, of course.

Suggested Usage: There is an association here with a whirlpool (see Etymology), so we wouldn't have to fetch a vision of someone swallowing food like a whirlpool very far at all. The noun of today's word is "ingurgitation," the adjective "ingurtitative," and someone who ingurgitates would be an ingurgitator.

Etymology: Today's is a borrowing based on Latin "ingurgitation" with the same meaning, the noun from "ingurgitare" comprising in- "in" + gurges "gorge, throat, whirlpool." The root here, "gurg-," is related to "gorge" and "gargle" though no one seems sure how. Etymologists are also a bit bemused by the French connection between the throat and the extremely elegant beauty implied by "gorgeous," but this adjective clearly comes from French gorge "throat," another descendant of the same root underlying today's word.