engorge
/in'gɔ:dʤ/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To consume food greedily or to excess; to overeat immoderately: The primary meaning refers to the act of eating a very large amount of food in a rapid, uncontrolled, or gluttonous manner.
- (Medical) To become congested or distended with fluid, especially blood: In a medical or biological context, it describes tissues or vessels becoming swollen due to an accumulation of fluid, such as blood.
Usage and Examples
- Verb (To overeat):
- After the long hike, he proceeded to engorge himself on the entire pizza.
- The children engorged on candy during the Halloween party.
- Verb (Medical/Biological):
- The veins can engorge with blood when circulation is restricted.
- During an allergic reaction, the tissues may engorge, causing visible swelling.
Advanced Usage
- Passive/Adjectival Form - "Engorged": Commonly used as an adjective to describe a state of being swollen or overfilled.
- The engorged leech detached from the skin. (Swollen with blood)
- The riverbanks were engorged after the heavy rains. (Swollen with water)
- Figurative Use: Can be applied metaphorically to describe non-physical saturation.
- The company engorged itself on smaller competitors during the merger frenzy.
Variants and Related Words
- Engorgement (noun): The state or process of being engorged.
- Venous engorgement is a common symptom.
- Engorged (adjective): Describing something that is swollen or overfilled.
Synonyms
- For overeating: Gorge, gormandize, overindulge, binge, stuff, glut.
- For swelling: Congest, distend, swell, bloat, fill.
Antonyms
- For overeating: Fast, diet, abstain, nibble.
- For swelling: Drain, empty, shrink, constrict.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- To engorge oneself on/with something: This is the standard construction for the eating sense.
- He engorged himself on rich desserts.
- Become engorged with: This is the standard construction for the swelling sense.
- The limb became engorged with fluid.
Verb
- overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself
- She stuffed herself at the dinner
- The kids binged on ice cream