imbibing

im·bibe  (m-bb)

v. im·bibed, im·bib·ing, im·bibes

v.tr.

1. To drink.

2. To absorb or take in as if by drinking: "The whole body . . . imbibes delight through every pore" (Henry David Thoreau).

3. To receive and absorb into the mind: "Gladstone had . . . imbibed a strong prejudice against Americans" (Philip Magnus).

4. Obsolete To permeate; saturate.

v.intr.

To drink alcoholic beverages.

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[Middle English embiben, to soak up, saturate, from Latin imbibere, to drink in, imbibe : in-, in; see in-² + bibere, to drink; see p(i)- in Indo-European roots.]

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im·biber n.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

imbibing - the act of consuming liquids         drinking, imbibition consumption, ingestion, intake, uptake - the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating) guzzling, swilling, gulping - the drinking of large mouthfuls rapidly potation - the act of drinking (especially an alcoholic drink)