Imbibe
[ɪm'baɪb]
Definition
(verb.) receive into the mind and retain; 'Imbibe ethical principles'.
Checked by Debbie--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To drink in; to absorb; to suck or take in; to receive as by drinking; as, a person imbibes drink, or a sponge imbibes moisture.
(v. t.) To receive or absorb into the mind and retain; as, to imbibe principles; to imbibe errors.
(v. t.) To saturate; to imbue.
Checked by Jacques
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Absorb, take in, suck in, suck up, swallow up.[2]. Receive, gather, acquire, gain, get, pick up.
Checked by Aubrey
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Acquire, learn, assimilate, absorb, drink, swallow, take_in, suck_in
ANT:Discard, reject, renounce, disavow, abjure, repudiate
Editor: Maris
Definition
v.t. to drink in: to absorb: to receive into the mind.—v.i. to drink absorb.—ns. Imbib′er; Imbibi′tion.
Checked by Calvin
Examples
- Here the stranger buried his countenance in a brown jug, but whether to hide his emotion or imbibe its contents, we cannot distinctly affirm. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- They are mostly handsome, and, especially among the islands, from living so much in the open air, imbibe a great love for Nature. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- I envied them, but felt how impossible it was to imbibe the same feeling, now that years had multiplied my ties in the world. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Egdon was her Hades, and since coming there she had imbibed much of what was dark in its tone, though inwardly and eternally unreconciled thereto. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- They greedily imbibed this belief; and their over-weening credulity even rendered them eager to make converts to the same faith. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- This, repeated twenty times, will so clear them of the perspirable matter they have imbibed, as to permit your sleeping well for some time afterward. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- The plague I am told is in Constantinople, perhaps I have imbibed its effluvia--perhaps disease is the real cause of my prognostications. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- At Alton he stepped out of the carriage at his servant's request and imbibed some of the ale for which the place is famous. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- You have imbibed French principles. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It is certain that the skin has _imbibing_ as well as _discharging_ pores; witness the effects of a blistering-plaster, &c. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- His appetite is wery so-so, but he imbibes wonderful. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
Typist: Melville